If you enjoy storylines and cutscenes in RPGs, then you'll love Xenosaga III. Even if you're new to the series.
Now onto the actual game itself. At the beginning you’ll learn that Shion has resigned her job with Vector after discovering the connection between Vector and the Gnosis outbreak. She is now with Scientia, an underground organization run by Doctus. The things that happened between the second and third game aren’t really covered in the database, so it’s okay if you don’t know the exact details of why Shion resigned and joined Scientia. In the first disc which lasts around 10 hours, there is many cutscenes and dialogue. You’ll have to expect to watch 20 or 30 minutes worth of cutscenes and dialogue every so often. You’ll mainly be just moving around from place to place and getting cutscenes, you won’t really get into the gameplay part until much later. If you like dialogue, cutscenes, and storylines in a game, you’ll definitely love the first disc. But if you don’t like lengthy cutscenes and dialogue, or the sound of the game right now, playing Xenosaga III may not be a good choice for your entertainment needs.
You’ll be satisfied with the conclusion for Shion’s arc. As the story answers most of the questions that have been set in the previous games. The Testaments’ reasons and identity, the relationship with Shion and Kevin and how they met, the reason for blued eye KOS-MOS, the past, and all that are answered in the third game.
Another bit about the story is that the previous main characters act more like friends than the previous games, they’ll acknowledge each other more often and in a friendly way. Although KOS-MOS still has one of the fewest lines in the game, other characters will get a little more lines, such as Ziggy for example.
You’ll start feeling attach to the characters in some way or another if you’ve enjoyed the last two games before. If you’re new it really depends on how much information you have researched/learn about them but you’ll still be able to feel for the characters, especially in a little more dramatic moments of the game. There quite a few of these moments in the game, and you’ll definitely notice them.
The gameplay part of Xenosaga III plays like a standard RPG, the battle menu is similar to RPGs such as the final fantasy series or Chrono Trigger for example. In Xenosaga III it introduces the new break system. Each character and enemy has a break gauge, the break gauge will fill up each time the character or enemy is hit by certain attacks. Some attacks will fill it up more than others, but once it’s filled the character/enemy will not be able to act for two turns and will take more critical hits than usual. Each character and enemy will be able to act in every turn under normal conditions. In disc one most of the battles are extremely easy, especially the E.S. battles. In disc two it does become a little more challenging, but you’ll always be able to beat a boss or so at any part of the game as long as you’ve destroyed every enemy you’ve encountered and have up to date equipment on your characters. Overall, the gameplay part of Xenosaga III is pretty average for an RPG, but the main focus is the story of the game which is amazing.
Xenosaga III is probably the best game of the entire series. Anyone who enjoyed the previous games’ story will definitely enjoy the third one and it’s conclusion. If you enjoy storylines, cutscenes, dialogue, and dramatic moments in video games, Xenosaga III is the game you must play.