Xenoblade Chronicles 3 expansion coming next week

Forget everything you thought you knew about Xenoblade

The fourth and final wave of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC is coming next week, and it’s a big one. Subtitled Future Redeemed – a fun nod back to the Xenoblade 1 remaster’s Future Connected – the DLC will take the form of a big story expansion with a whole new set of characters.

Well, maybe not new exactly, since there are quite a few returning characters too. Long-time fans of the series will notice a very grown up Rex from Xenoblade 2, and a not quite as old but still much older Shulk from Xenoblade 1 have joined the cast of the new game, after making very minor (and very funny) appearances at the end of the main game.

Lore hunters will be pleased, since this DLC seems to dive deep into all the lingering threads left unwoven from all three games. Want to know what happened to Alvis after Xenoblade 1? Well, you’re about to find out.

There are plenty of new characters too, like a sword-wielding lady mysteriously called A who looks a lot like Alvis for some reason, a character called Glimmer who’s obviously related to Mythra and Pyra, and a new, mechanized character called Nikol. Eagle-eyed fans have also spotted the legendary Nopon mechanic Riku in a brief shot in the new trailer, which means we may very well get more answers about Noah’s magical sword in this new story.

Speaking of Noah, he’s not here! Well, kind of. There’s a character who looks a lot like Noah called Matthew, in what might be one of the bluntest biblical references in the series. Who is Matthew exactly? Well, he’s probably related to Noah, but exactly what that relationship is would be anyone’s guess.

Still, there’s plenty to speculate about. This seems to be set before Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and shows a lot of characters who would end up being the founders of the City. But then Consul Z and N are there too, and they probably shouldn’t exist at that point in the timeline.

Either way, it looks like there’s going to be plenty to see and do and obsess over for months on end once it releases on Nintendo Switch next week, on April 25. Nintendo has previously said that it will be roughly the size of Torna: The Golden Country, which was Xenoblade 2’s equivalent story expansion and lasted for about 20-30 hours.