Spoiler Alert! This article contains spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Future Redeemed DLC
It was early in the semester in 2006 when I got my pre-ordered copy ofXenosaga3. I had been anticipating it since the trailers first released and was excited to see how developer Monolith Soft was going to handle having to cut the once six-part series into a trilogy. The experience took me almost two weeks to complete, and that final night was an all-nighter. I skipped classes and didn’t go to work that day, as I was both too tired and emotionally spent. I had been crying all night and felt that awful emptiness that comes completing a truly amazing game.
I preface this article with that anecdote because, after recently finishing the final DLC ofXenoblade 3: Future Redeemed, both the current me and the 2006 me feel validated, emotionally exhausted, and now, excited about the future.Xenogearswas originally supposed to be a six part series, but Squaresoft cut the budget for the first game and canceled future plans. Xenosaga, published by Bandai Namco, was its spritual successor, and it too was supposed to be a six part series but was cut to a trilogy after subpar sales for Xenosaga 2. Future Redeemed is by far the best DLC of the Xenoblade series, achieving its lofty goals of introducing new characters, reconnecting with older ones, and closing a narrative that Monolith Soft’s main man Tetsuya Takahashi hasbeen trying to tell since 1998.
Matthew, the main protagonist of Future Redeemed, is a plucky hero who punches first and asks questions later. His can-do attitude is important to the narrative, especially when things go off the rails and gets all Xeno-y with a meta story about the hubris of man, god-killing, and commentary on the will of humankind. The mysterious A, with whom he adventures, is the epitome of this meta story, and I appreciated that it didn’t take Matthew too long to get on board; I didn’t want to waste time playing a character who needed their hand held for too long.
Related:Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed - Secrets You Probably Missed
The cutscenes themselves are done well (and not overdone) and the music, as usual, is bombastic. Most of the arrangements were from previous games, but done in such a manner that it doesn’t feel recycled. Visiting a rundown Colony 9 from Xenoblade: Definitive Edition quickly became a tug at the heartstrings when the explorative music played and I saw an older, grizzled version of Shulk run through the grass and collect items.
But it was the ending that really blew me away, and to be honest, I’m not surprised. Takahashi loves focusing on the meta story’s lore within each game’s final hours, taking the unfamiliar and bringing it back to the familiar. The will of humankind manifests itself in a way that pulls from both philosophical and religious ideologies, a narrative method he’s used from the beginning.
Future Redeemed acts as an end to what’s been coined as The Klaus Saga. It all started with what’s known as the Conduit, an energy-based anomaly found in Africa in the early part of the 21st century. An institution was forced to research it, leading to another discovery: it could connect to different dimensions and change reality itself. This was very dangerous information. Klaus, a scientist from 20XX, saw the Conduit as a gift from the universe to create anewuniverse, and so, he activated it, splitting the existing world in two and setting the scene for Xenoblade and Xenoblade 2. Portals to other dimensions also appeared, causing most of the Earth’s population to disappear.
Related:Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed Combat Guide
Years passed, and the two worlds created by Klaus’s experiment started to merge back together within the same universe. Problem is, in merging, they’d eventually destroy one another. Xenoblade 3 became an idealistic world stuck in a void of unending change, halted by the memories of people of both worlds.
Suffice to say, Takahashi loves creating convoluted storylines. After beating Xenosaga 3, I actually took on a second major in Religious Studies in an effort to understand Xenosaga’s heavy religious and philosophical sources of inspiration. This extended the story on a meta-narrative level and instilled in me this hope that, even though it was the end of the Xenosaga series, one day a similar experience would come my way.
And finally, near the end of Future Redeemed, the party visited what was considered our current world, and the radio dropped the name Dmitri Yuriev, who played a vital role in Xenosaga’s story. This simple mention linked the lore between Xenosaga and Xenoblade indefinitely. The institute mentioned in Xenoblade was now tied to the Xenosaga series, and I burst into tears. All these years, I’d been wanting something like Xenosaga to come back into my life and reach into me the very specific way that game had, and Future Redeemed pulled it off.
As I stood with my party, I was emotionally exhausted and pulling another all-nighter. So much has changed since I played Xenosaga 3’s endgame for the first time. I’m now a school librarian, the first white has hair has popped up in my beard, and Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed, while reminiscent of the Xenosaga series, is its own thing. It was already pushing past 2 AM, but Ineededto see where this was going.
After I defeated the final part of the Conduit, and three characters from the past Xenoblade games sacrificed themselves, I heard a familiar voice and song arrangement playing. Joanne Hogg, the singer who provided the vocal themes of the Xenosaga and Xenogears games, returned to sing “Future Awaits,” the ending theme song to Future Redeemed. Just like the songs from Xenosaga, there was a strong Celtic influence in the music, with flutes playing a key role in the arrangement. Lyrically, it’s reminiscent of Xenogears’s “Two Small Pieces” and Xenosaga’s “Kokoro”, as all the songs discuss the complex emotions of moving forward and reminiscing on the past.
The song and the accompanying ending credits are a love letter to not only Xenoblade Chronicles fans, but to Xeno series fans as a whole. There was an abundance of clips from all three games, but also a scene depicting the two worlds combining back into our Earth, and a light making its way into the atmosphere. This light, many of us fans speculate, is KosMos, one of the main characters from Xenosaga, making her way back to Lost Jerusalem.
Related:Xenoblade: We Need to Talk About “Chadasaurus Rex” in Future Redeemed
As I mentioned before, Takahashi has been trying to tell this story since 1998. With the Klaus saga and a simple radio mention of Dmitri, Takahashi has finally been able to bring his story full circle. Ironically, when considering the three expansion storylines as their own games, Takahashi has made his six-part series at last: Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, Xenoblade: Future Connected, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Xenoblade 2: Torna the Golden Country, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Xenoblade 3: Future Redeemed.
Takahashi has said that Future Redeemed is not only the end of The Klaus Saga, but also a look at the future of the Xenoblade series. He has confirmed that it will continue, and many of us fans are speculating that more of the Xenosaga series will be folded into the lore, with a remaster or remake possibly in the wings.
What I wouldn’t give for that to be the case. But for now, I am happy knowing that one of the biggest mysteries of the mid-2000s for me was solved, and I’m so excited about the future. The experience of Xenosaga is strong within Xenoblade’s DNA, and Takahashi hasn’t forgotten about us veterans who’ve stuck by him for nearly 25 years. Future is indeed redeemed.
Next:Games To Play If You Like Xenoblade 3
