Revealed as part of the latest Nintendo Direct, the first major chunk of content for Xenoblade Chronicles 3‘s Expansion Pass is set to release on October 13th. This “Wave 2” looks to add significantly more to the game, boasting a new Hero and the much-anticipated Challenge Battles. A delightful excuse for anyone looking to sink another dozen hours or so into this sprawling JRPG – namely, yours truly.
The additional Hero is shown as a mechanical humanoid similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 2‘s controversial Poppi, though thankfully with less maid-fetish vibes. Named Ino, she is a Defender-class Hero and seems to have her own special skill tree similar to the original “Poppiswap”. The jury is out on whether she’ll provide as significant a power boost as the DLC characters from previous Xenoblade titles, but it does look like she comes with her own questline (and a penchant for chugging ether straight from the can).
The release of Challenge Battles also looks to provide hours of further content for the title, showing timed and ranked battles in special scenarios that are sure to keep players occupied. As part of this reveal, we also got a peek at the inevitable swimsuit outfits for our main cast. Unfortunately, best-boy Lanz was Mike Wazowski’d behind Noah, so we’ll have to wait until October to see him strut his stuff.
Are you as excited as me for this wave of DLC? Let us know! And don’t forget to check out our review of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, as well as the other big news from the recent Direct (including news of the upcoming Zelda title).
About the Author
David McNamara
he/him or they/them
David is a proudly queer performing artist and software developer. He spends most of his downtime with a controller in his hands and a lazy beagle on his lap.
