Trying to play through all the different beloved JRPG series is a fool’s errand, but I guess that makes me a fool. I’ve adored this genre ever since my first taste of Final Fantasy IX on the PlayStation, and this led to me playing everything from Kingdom Hearts to Shadow Hearts in those formative teen years. After thousands upon thousands of hours of grinding and levelling up you’d think I’d have seen it all, but there’s always a series or two that I’m mildly ashamed I’ve missed. Thanks to Nintendo announcing Switch 2 upgrades for the entire Xenoblade series though, that’s another one I can justify finally playing – and if Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition Switch 2 Edition is anything to go off I’m in for a treat.
The entirety of the first Xenoblade Chronicles takes place on the bodies of two titans who were once locked in battle. Protagonist Shulk and all the other humans live on Bionis, which is the nice forestry colossus. The other titan is named Mechobis, and as you might expect it’s full of robots. The people of Bionis are rather used to attacks from the robots that regularly invade, but Shulk hopes that by researching the magical blade known as the Monado (the only weapon that can really hurt the bots) he can save his friends and community from the bloodshed.
Fate has other plans for Shulk though, who is thrust into the spotlight when the Monado seemingly chooses him to be its next wielder. This happens during a particularly brutal attack on his hometown, which gets him in a rather vengeful state of mind. You’d think this serious cause would make the story a bit po-faced and joyless, but the daft and intensely British voiced characters ensure that isn’t the case.
The narrative side of Xenoblade Chronicles clicked with me immediately, but it took me a moment to get to grips with the combat. Instead of a standard turn based affair, fights in Xenoblade see your characters automatically attacking as you freely move about. Alongside this you can use skills to deal extra damage and inflict different effects, which all operate on different cooldowns. It’s sort of like how a lot of traditional MMOs handle combat, and it’s quite unusual.
At the start of the game you don’t have a whole lot of options in fights, but as you move forward the skills come thick and fast. Different skills get more powerful or have added effects when used from certain angles (like a backstab) but enemies automatically get aggro towards you once you hurt them. This is another thing you’ll need to manage with skills, and complexity only keeps building. By the end of the game you’re managing so many different elements, and they’re all upgradable too.
The depth in Xenoblade Chronicles is pretty damn impressive, and it doesn’t take long to reveal itself. There’s a skill tree that allows you to unlock different buffs and perks for each party member, and on top of that you can level up individual skills with points earned in battle. There are plenty of other ways to get stronger too, like basic levelling up, equipping new gear and equipping gems to the gear itself. This all means it’s worth doing all those side quests to become an all powerful team of robot slayers with best best armour and weapons.
I was really taken by surprise by the sheer number of side quests in Xenoblade Chronicles HD Switch 2 Edition, and frankly was overwhelmed for a little while. The first town is absolutely littered with quest markers, with requests for different monster parts and items that feel kind of basic and uninspired. The magic that makes them fun though is how easy they are to complete as you wander across the map, with massive exclamation points on enemies or items you need and instant completion without having to go back to town and chat. I got a bit obsessed with clearing out my quest log in each new area because of this, and usually that’s not my style at all.
All the enticing elements of Xenoblade will be familiar to returning fans though, and you probably want to hear about the new additions for the Switch 2. The visuals have been sharpened making the game feel a decent amount more modern and vibrant (the Wii generation was a long time ago) and the framerate is silky smooth throughout as you’d hope for on a newer console.
There’s also the addition of the Ether Jet, which is a vehicle you unlock that allows you to travel across the open plains of Xenoblade at a hugely increased speed. I honestly can’t imagine coping without it, and feel sorry for all of those who had to. With the Ether Jet also comes a racing mode, which swaps out sword fighting for rushing through checkpoints. It’s a refreshing change of pace if a fairly simple one, but I’ll never complain about more minigames in my RPGs.
Xenoblade Chronicles HD Switch 2 Edition is a fantastic JRPG made fresher for the modern day, with lovely new visual improvements and a handy faster way to get around. It takes a bit of getting used to and absolutely overwhelms with quests sometimes, but its combat and delightful characters help it stand out from the crowd as an all time classic.
