TheMoon
(not a sphere)
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Developer: MonolithSoft/Nintendo EPD2
Publisher: Nintendo
Release: April 25th/26th, 2023
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Type: DLC Story Expansion for Xenoblade 3
Genre: Family Trauma Exploration Battle Game
Download Size: ~4GB
Website: JP | NA | EU | AU
Publisher: Nintendo
Release: April 25th/26th, 2023
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Type: DLC Story Expansion for Xenoblade 3
Genre: Family Trauma Exploration Battle Game
Download Size: ~4GB
Website: JP | NA | EU | AU
Future Redeemed is mostly a prequel story set many cycles before the events of Xenoblade 3 with possible implications for the future of the series as well.
Set around the time of the destruction of the First City and the establishment of the Second City, we meet a mostly new and unfamiliar party of characters which includes older versions of Shulk and Rex, the two central characters of Xenoblade and Xenoblade 2 respectively.
Leading the way are two new characters from The City: Matthew - grandson of Ghondor (the namesake of Ghondor from the base game) who gets killed by N - and the mysterious A, who wields a version of the Monado and wears an outfit resembling Moebius armor. Matthew and A are teaming up to find Matthew's sister, Na'el, who goes missing after N's attack on The City.
The two encounter Nikol (Keves), a descendant of Shulk, and Glimmer (Agnus), a descendant of Pyra, they form a team that gets caught up in a conflict between Moebius, N, and ... Alvis?
Also, Riku is here?!
What's new is that a team-up attack is not activating an Ouroboros interlink but what's called a UNITY ATTACK and UNION COMBO - a special team-up attack that can be customized between any two party members before battle (this has slight remnants of the Soul Voice system from Xenoblade X). These Unity Attacks need to be charged up by using Arts and Fusion Arts (the latter charge it up more) and come with bonus buffs. If the Unity Attacks are triggered while an enemy is launched, this triggers a Union Combo which always inflcts either Burst, Smash, or Blowdown, depending on the character pairing selected.
What used to be called Fusion Arts are now referred to as OUROBOROS POWER which, depending on the combination of arts, will produce different side effects like various buff auras, for example.
The new CHAIN ATTACK ACCESSORIES alter the completion bonus effects of chain attacks which replaces the unique effects that heroes in the main game brought to the table. Now, you can equip your preferred effect accessory to the main party to create your ultimate chain attack setup.
Through several actions in the world, you can gather Affinity Points and build up your characters from a shared pool of AP (you can freely reset your points to respec).
AFFINITY SCENES
At certain points in the world, you can trigger scenes in which characters talk to Matthew about the world and share their thoughts and feelings (this game's Heart-to-Hearts). Viewing these moments grants Affinity Points.
COMMUNITY
Similar to the system's first appearance in Torna ~ The Golden Country, interacting with and doing quests for NPCs you encounter out in the world will add them to your Community map and increase your community levels which will net you Affinity Points. Unlike in Torna, progression is not gated by Community levels.
COLLECTOPEDIA
The Collectopedia returns! Collect the items listed in the Collectopedia and get Affinity Points!
ENEMYPEDIA
Now you can also get Affinity Points for taking out select monsters and enemies in the world and catalogue their location!
These rifts appear at certain locations and will spawn numerous tough Fog Beasts, first seen in Future Connected.
ENEMY CAMPS
Another new gameplay element are enemy camps that you can clear out for a reward. In these camps, all enemies that belong to that camp are marked and you will need to take out all of them.
Matthew can use the X-Reader to find survivors and undiscovered map locations, among other things.
UPGRADES
The X-Reader can be upgraded at Rest Spots by providing Nikol with materials. Riku can also upgrade your weapons in exchange for specific materials.
Is this like Torna for Xenoblade 2 where it can be played standalone?
You cannot buy Future Redeemed separately or physically so the only way to play it without playing Xenoblade 3 is to buy that and its expansion pass and just not play the main game which makes little sense and is very counter-intuitive so it's very much not recommended to do this. The intended way to play this is after having played Xenoblade 3. And unlike Torna, this is not based off of a flashback sequence originally intended to occur in the main game. Prequels are by definition meant to be experienced with the knowledge of what happened in the thing they are preceding.
How long is this?
As stated during interviews around launch of the base game, they made something very much the size of Torna again so a casual range of 20~40 hours depending on playstyle can be expected.
Is story progress gated by any of the side content?
No, side content like the Community feature do not prevent you from progressing through the main story in this game.
Why can Hearlers exceed the 99 cap during Chain Attacks suddenly?
Explanation from Metto (over on Era) : "It's the Hero Chain books. If you have a Hero Chain equipped on a character it will override their class chain attack bonus. This doesn't apply to Chain Order books it will just change the effect of their chain orders but they'll keep Class Chain order effects.
To put it simply if you have Glimmer equipped with the effect that will grant her turn the effect of say getting 150% if she acts first it will override her healer bonus and go over the 99%."
Will there be a retail release?
Unlikely at this point (should have been announced alongside the release date) but not impossible. Could come later, maybe as a MyNintendo Store-exclusive.
Why is Riku here?
We should be asking: why isn't Riku in every game?
free of story spoilers but does showcase late game areas occasionally
Check out the new battle theme:
Limited OST Trinity Box Set (SOLD OUT!) [click image]
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