Nintendo fleshed out Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s expansion pass in the most recent September 2022 Nintendo Direct. Alongside a brand new Xenoblade Chronicles 3 hero, there are smaller additions to the game, including the new swimsuit skins for your party members.
Yep, just in time for summer to end, Noah, Mio, and all the other Xenoblade Chronicles 3 characters are getting ready to take a dip. Still, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 swimsuits aren’t just here to help our friends cool off, as they also reveal an interesting story element.
It turns out, as you can see in the photo, that Taion has a core crystal. Okay, so any Xenoblade fans are probably guffawing or at least silently interested, but I imagine anyone else is just doing a big “huh?” So, let me explain.
Core crystals are little gems that house a blade. Blades are characters like Pyra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 – half-human half-weapon. So, blades have core crystals at their centre, so does that make Taion a blade? Well, no.
Remember Rex from Xenoblade Chronicles 2? He also had a core crystal, because Pyra gave him some of hers to help him not die or whatever. So, other characters can have core crystals. It doesn’t always happen in the way it did to Rex, however.
This is where we get blade eaters. Nope, I don’t mean the folks sticking swords down the oesophaguses. Blade eaters in the Xenoblade world are characters who are fused with some or all of a blade’s core crystal, which in turn expands their lifespan, among some other things.
So, what does this mean for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 story mavens? Does it change anything? Well, not really. Mio has a core crystal, though it’s not completely clear whether this is as a flesh eater, blade eater, or some other type of method. Some also theorise that Sena has a core crystal, but who knows? Either way, it looks like Taion is a blade eater.
So, there you have it, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 swimsuit. So much story theorising from one screenshot of scantily-clad anime characters. For more, check out our Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review to see why we love it, a Xenoblade Chronicles timeline breakdown to try and make sense of it, or our Xenoblade Chronicles Operation Rainfall interview feature for a history lesson.