Project X Zone 3: War of Infinite Worlds – Ultimate Edition

Project X Zone III: War of Infinite Worlds – Ultimate Edition (プロジェクト クロスゾーン ＩＩＩ第三次 ： 無む 限げん 大だい  世せ  界かい の 戦せん  争そ アルティメットエディション) is the remastered version of the 2018 crossover video game, Project X Zone III: War of Infinite Worlds, developed by Monolith Soft for the Nintendo Switch. To celebrate the 65th anniversary of Bandai Namco Entertainment, the game was released in Japan on June 1, 2020, and worldwide on December 25, 2020.

In addition to featuring returning and new characters from Bandai Namco, Capcom and Sega franchises, the game introduces guests characters from Arc System Works, Square-Enix, Konami, SNK, Koei Tecmo and Compile Heart.

The game was met with commercial success, selling 2,800,000 units worldwide by the end of the year, and critical praise, noted for its upgraded and improved visuals, gameplay, characterization, story and cinematic quality.

Production
In E3 2019, Sam Imbecile announced that a remastered version of Project X Zone 3 will be released in the following year for the Nintendo Switch and will feature plenty of changes from the original handheld version. Also, he announced that he will not return for a sequel and that it will be the last entry of the Project X Zone crossover series, since Imbecile had many other ongoing projects and it's unlikely for the franchise to pick up the pace ever since Souichiro Morizumi, the creator of the series, retired from working in Monolith Soft three years prior and the budget that was spent into making the Ultimate Edition (¥300,000,000 or $2,655,300) was thrice the amount when Project X Zone 3 was first developed in 2018.

It was also confirmed that while the story of the game's Ultimate Edition would be largely the same as the original, there would be plenty of retcons and changes to the plot and various storylines due to the addition and debut of many other series into the mix. He also confirmed that all of the remaining characters in the Namco Cross Series that didn't appear in the original will appear in the remastered edition.

Gameplay
As opposed to the Nintendo 3DS, the Ultimate Edition of Project X Zone 3 features a radicalized changed in gameplay. The update removes the tactical turn-based gameplay of the original and replaces it with a more traditional hack-and-slash/beat-em-up third-person shooter orientation with RPG elements adapted straight from the original and 2.5D graphics incorporated into the environments, characters and animations in the same vein as Dragon Ball FighterZ. The game also introduces the use of an avatar character for the play to customize via appearance, abilities and others, interact with several characters, in and out of combat, and even form relationships with some of them in the same vein as a visual novel.

However, few elements from the original version are retained, such as the use of Pair and Solo Units, Mirage Cancel, Cross Fusion Multi-Attacks, open-world universe-exploring and quest unlocks.

New Characters
All characters from the original 3DS game will reappear in the Ultimate Edition in addition to new characters from different franchises.

To see all of the characters that appeared in the original, go here.

Characters denoted with an asterisk (*) are initially an enemy unit. Characters denoted with two asterisks (**) are previously a Solo Unit in the original version.

Sega
wizard and sorceress                     dragon crown dwarf and amazon                         dragon crown fighter and elf                          dragon crown

Guest Characters
charizard and blastoise pokemon red and blue and green blaziken and lucario    pokemon omega ruby and alpha sapphire and pokemon diamond and pearl and platinum samurott and emboar      pokemon black and white delphox and greninja     pokemon x and y

Solo Units
Characters denoted with (*) symbol are initially an enemy unit.

Sega
zombina manako tionishia doppel

Guest Characters
venusaur serperior chesnaught primarina garchomp

Trivia

 * The international release of Project X Zone 3 - Ultimate Edition incorporates English voice-overs for the characters and cutscenes, being the first game in the Namco Cross series to having English dubbed voices.
 * The story in the Ultimate Edition has several changes that deviate from the original 3DS version, with many settings, characters and events altered due to addition of new characters and retcons to tie in with the events of Chou Super Robot Wars which was released between Project X Zone 3's original and Ultimate Edition release dates.
 * Also, due to roster changes, some of the characters' backstories prior to and during the events of the game are changed too. For example, in the original 3DS version, Kurino Sandra and Sabine from Adventure of Valkyrie were killed during the Genocide of Heroes months before the game's story. In the Ultimate Edition, however, it is retconned that the two actually survived but were brainwashed under Zouna's control.