Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place in Aionios, a world made up of merged locations from previous games. The world is divided into Colonies, each with their own giant mecha called a Ferronis, which are fueled by the life force of fallen enemy child soldiers and trap it in a Flame Clock. The wars are fought by engineered soldiers with artificially limited lifespans of ten years, referred to as Terms. They fight to fuel their Colony's Flame Clock and survive to the end of their tenth Term in hopes of receiving a Homecoming ceremony. Kevesi soldiers Noah, Lanz, and Eunie, as well as the Nopon Riku, are tasked with intercepting a mysterious airship and destroying its cargo. Upon reaching the target area, they encounter an Agnian squad consisting of Mio, Sena, Taion, and the Nopon Manana. A fight breaks out between the two groups, but then Guernica Vandham, the airship's sole survivor, intervenes to stop the fighting and claims he knows their "true enemy." However, when Consul D attacks him and the two groups, it forces him to activate the Ouroboros Stone he was smuggling and imbue Noah and Mio's teams with its power. D is forced to retreat, and a mortally wounded Guernica instructs the teams to head for the City at Swordmarch to find answers.
Unlike previous Xenoblade games, the game allows for up to seven party members to participate in battles at once, including the main party of six and an additional "Hero" character. Up to 19 Heroes are available in the base game, each with different skills and abilities, and can be recruited to the party through story events or sidequests. In addition, four heroes were added in the DLC. Party members also have the ability to change their character class, granting them access to different abilities; raising a Hero's affinity with the party will unlock their class for use. Like the previous entries, the game has an open world design, with a day-and-night time cycle that affects in-game events, such as the availability of quests and items. The game takes place in a continuous open world that is the largest map featured in the series to date. It also features a fast travel option for quicker traversal, as well as the option to activate navigation that will mark a line on the ground to follow if players are unsure of how to reach their destination.
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