February 2022 Nintendo Direct closed with the announcement for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, which had a loose September 2022 release window.
The placement of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in Nintendo's 2022 schedule raised a lot of questions about what else was coming this year. When Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was first announced, the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was still set to launch in 2022. This led to speculation that the sequel to Breath of the Wild would be the big holiday season game, as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 could fill that role, but it was coming out in September instead. It turned out to be a moot point, as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 wasn't hinting at another release, as the Breath of the Wild sequel was pushed to 2023, and the new holiday season game appears to be Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.
The Switch's 2022 schedule has just been shaken up once more but in a different way than usual. In an almost unprecedented move, a game's release date is being brought forward, rather than delayed. A new trailer on the official Nintendo YouTube channel has revealed that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will now launch on July 29, rather than in September. The trailer can be viewed below:
The new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 actually features gameplay footage. One of the big new mechanics of the game appears to be a form of fusion. There are male and female duos that appear to be merging together in a robot-like creature, which then takes their place on the battlefield. The combat system and the world are more reminiscent of the one from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 than the original game or Xenoblade Chronicles X. The new trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 also revealed story beats, but a lot of them are out of context, so it's still unclear exactly what is going on in the game. The trailer concluded with an image of the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Special Edition, which comes with a steelbook case and an art book.
The Switch now has several big exclusives in July 2022, as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is ing Azure Striker Gunvolt 3, Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, and Live a Live. It's a strange move for a company to bring a game forward and it has raised questions about what Nintendo has planned for the rest of the year, even with the delay of the Breath of the Wild sequel. Nintendo's 2022 schedule is already packed and it's possible that there could be even more games planned for the end of the year that have yet to be announced, or some of the games without a release date (like Bayonetta 3) could be on the way.
Xenoblade Chronicles 3 will be released for the Nintendo Switch on July 29, 2022.
Source: Nintendo/YouTube
