Monolith Soft sets up new R&D division, expanding its game engine
Posted on 2 days ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
As shared in a new interview published today, Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft has not only set up a new R&D division, but is also expanding its game engine.
CCO and director Tetsuya Takahashi has been in charge of overseeing the R&D team for roughly a year. Xenoblade lead programmer Michihiko Inaba is the group’s producer and director.
Speaking about the need for an R&D team with CGWorld, Takashi shared the following (rough translation):
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Monolith Soft celebrates 25th anniversary with special video
Posted on 1 week ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Monolith Soft is officially 25 years old, and to celebrate, the company has come out with a special video.
The video reminds fans with what the studio has worked on since its inception, with the Xenoblade series getting a focus in particular. But other series and games such as Baten Kaitos and Xenosaga are featured as well.
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Ideas for the future of Xenoblade Chronicles
Posted on 1 month ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo, Switch | 0 comments
By all (or at least most) accounts, the Xenoblade series sort of peaked with the release of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and its DLC, Future Redeemed. The base game told a completely new story that could technically be understood without playing the prior games (but was enhanced by doing so) while also tying together the futures of the worlds from Xenoblade Chronicles and its sequel. Without going into too much detail right off the bat, Xenoblade 3’s ending is said to have wrapped up the series – or at least the Klaus trilogy. That being said, there are a few loose ends introduced in Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that weren’t fully tied up – and today, we’re going over which of these plot points we can expect to see in future games, if any at all. Do keep in mind that there are spoilers ahead.
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[Let’s Talk] What do you want to see next out of Monolith Soft?
Posted on 1 month ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, Let's Talk | 0 comments
Monolith Soft has become one of Nintendo’s most important subsidiaries over the years. For one thing, the company has developed a very consistent RPG in Xenoblade Chronicles going back to the Wii era. Monolith Soft continued to expand and now has extra teams working on other first-party games, ranging from Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild to the Splatoon titles.
This week, we heard that Monolith Soft is hiring for a “new RPG” with Tetsuya Takahashi at the helm. It’s certainly possible that this could be for a new Xenoblade game. On the other hand, we can’t help but be intrigued by the company working on something entirely new.
We want to ask you though: what would you like to see out of Monolith Soft? Let us know in the comments below.
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Monolith Soft hiring for a “new RPG”
Posted on 2 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Switch | 0 comments
Monolith Soft today opened several positions at the company for a “new RPG”. Positions include a 2D designer, 3DCG designers, development environment engineer, field level designer, assistant director, animator, and effects designer.
Note that the game will be developed by Monolith Soft 1st Production Team. This is the same group that has created the Xenoblade Chronicles games.
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Monolith Soft talks about its positive work environment and culture
Posted on 2 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Hirohide Sugiura, one of the founders of Monolith Soft, weighed in a little while back about the company’s work environment. This comes from the Company Brochure 2024, which published different interviews and more.
In one part of an interview, Sugiura was asked about Monolith Soft’s strengths. He pointed to the company’s work environment, focusing on work-life balance, and more.
Our translation is as follows:
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Examining the lore of Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Posted on 2 months ago by Ethan in Features, Switch | 0 comments
The Xenoblade Chronicles 3 art book was released a few months back, and in addition to providing an in-depth look at character designs, it also provided a huge amount of lore via its included interviews. Xenoblade Chronicles games are famous for their lore, and all 3 numbered titles provide story tidbits at the end that sort of re-contextualize cutscenes from earlier in the game. The interviews included in the art book are with game director Tetsuya Takahashi, and a good chunk of the new lore he reveals in them re-contextualizes certain cutscenes from Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in the same way. Today, we’re looking at the Xenoblade 3 art book and all of the new story details – and what they mean for the game’s overarching plot. This will contain full spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3, so keep that in mind before you continue.
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Monolith Soft reflects on the past and future
Posted on 3 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
Earlier this year, Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft published its Company Brochure 2024. It includes interviews with key members of the company who talked about the past and future. It’s a good time for reflection given how Monolith Soft turns 25 this year.
Hirohide Sugiura, one of the founders of Monolith Soft, shared some of the more interesting comments. Sugiura feels that the company is still in its “genesis” stage and hopes the company can keep going far into the future – maybe even 500 years.
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Xenoblade 3 Mio scale figure release date, pre-orders open, new photos
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in General Nintendo, News | 0 comments
We have an update on the new Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Mio scale figure, including a release date, pre-orders, and photos. This was first revealed during Smile Fest 2022.
The figure is based on an original illustration drawn by Masatsugu Saito, the character designer of the series. The team behind it put a lot of care into the sculpting of the details and texture of Mio’s clothes. Additionally, the multilayered base features the Zephyr icon, which is the mark of her initial class.
Nintendo of America never planned on bringing Xenoblade to North America despite announcing it at E3
Posted on 5 months ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Wii | 0 comments
These days Xenoblade is one of Nintendo’s bigger franchises – at least when it comes to RPGs – but that wasn’t always the case. The first entry came out in English more than a year after its Japanese launch, and that was for European fans only. It wasn’t until the “Operation Rainfall” fan campaign that Nintendo brought it to North America in 2012.
Those unfamiliar with the early days of Xenoblade may not know that it was originally titled Monado: Beginning of the World. The game was actually announced at E3 2009 with an under-the-radar reveal. Yet even though the reveal took place during what was the biggest gaming show of the year in the states, it seems Nintendo of America knew right away it wouldn’t be bringing the RPG stateside.
