VGChartz's Mile Gregory: "Though the first three packs of the Expansion Pass are just above middling, Future Redeemed ends it with a big bang. Despite Xenoblade Chronicles 3 feeling complete, Future Redeemed somehow feels so essential that I couldn’t NOT recommend this to any owner of the base game, or any player of Xenoblade Chronicles games in general.
Some aspects are less expansive than its bigger brother, sure, but the shorter nature of this expansion acts as a buffer from the game feeling overly simplified in any way. Changes that were made are, instead, smart and help improve the overall gameplay. In addition, it has one of the most addicting leveling mechanics in the series to-date, and this has influenced me to almost 100% the expansion (not something I ever did with XC games before this). I’m not sure if this is the end of the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise, but if it is, it has ended on a high note."
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "Whether in the form of free DLC (hello God of War Ragnarök: Valhalla) or long-awaited semi-sequels, expansions have blossomed into their own thing across every genre. A commercial & creative necessity for MMOs way back when is now a commonality everywhere. And there's great incentive behind it too; generally speaking, who wouldn't want to have the gameplay skeleton of their favorite titles utilized to explore new storylines and locations? In 2023, this comes with a cost for last-gen-only gamers in the form of Horizon Forbidden West and Cyberpunk 2077. Despite both titles having 8th-gen versions at their respective launches, Guerrilla Games and CD Projekt RED decided to forego the technologically-constraining PS4 and/or Xbox One consoles to fully realize their creative visions.
While that doesn't tell the full story of these four finalists, it's an intriguing factoid that marks 2023 as a turning point in cementing future titles or DLCs for only this current generation... and maybe Switch."
Good year for DLC. I’m at the last boss in Burning Shores and just wrapped the tower party subterfuge in Phantom Liberty. Chef’s kiss.
Even though it was a remake, Separate Ways was a great slice of DLC for me.
The RE4VR update also phenomenal.
Xeno fans rejoice! The six-part saga has finally been told!
Xenogears was 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 has been trying to tell since 1998.
