Of the many Wii-U games that really stick in my memory, Xenoblade Chronicles X ranks among the best. I have been into RPGs and open worlds as long as either has existed, but this one was different – and still stands alone even within its own franchise. Now remastered on the Switch, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition seamlessly integrates new content with the old and adds quality of life changes that bring it up to date in some key areas.
First of all, it’s even more stunning on the Switch, for obvious reasons. But it’s more than just down to a graphical overhaul. It was already a gorgeous game by the Wii U’s standards, presenting dense, varied landscapes from rolling meadows to lava caverns, replete with roaming life from ankle-high rodents to towering apes and building-sized, well, dinosaurs, I suppose. It’s a game of massive, awe-inspiring scale, and the fairly loose, sometimes throwaway story, encourages you to just explore the world. Most areas aren’t level-gated either, so you’ll often wander past wild beasts that will ignore you if you don’t annoy them, but can crush you in seconds if you do.
But how did you come to be here? In the opening cutscene we see the Earth caught in the midst of a war between two alien species. With no chance to save our world, humanity leaves in huge arks, one of which – the White Whale – carries your protagonist. During its voyage, the White Whale crashes on the planet Mira, and many of its colonists are scattered in their life pods. You are one such, and by the time you’re awoken the survivors have converted much of the White Whale into the huge city of New Los Angeles. The rest of the ship is scattered though, leading to teams of adventurers heading out into the wilds to rescue tech and lost survivors.
Although your protagonist is utterly silent and spends the entire game staring blankly at people, your recruitable companions make up for it. They’re a verbose bunch, starting with Elma, the taciturn soldier who finds you, and Lin, a teenage engineering prodigy. Others soon join you, including a handful of new characters added in this edition.
It’s these characters who offer most of the story and drama. An Affinity system tracks your relationship with each, and will eventually allow you to complete exclusive quest lines that unlock unique abilities. But it’s not just the abilities that draw you in here, it’s the characters themselves. These missions encourage them to open up, revealing their backstories and motivations. They’re worth doing not only because they improve your abilities in combat, but because these characters are genuinely interesting.
To say Xenoblade Chronicles X was ahead of its time seems like hyperbole, and feels almost dismissive in hindsight, but it genuinely was unlike anything else – and could be considered the precursor of more modern games like the Final Fantasy remakes or even Monster Hunter Wilds. The ecosystems at work were lightyear beyond what anyone else was doing, which is likely why they’ve not been bettered until now. Animals eat and drink, stick to their habitats, lounge and sleep, and you get the constant sense that it will keep happening when you log off for the evening.
Exploring the world feels rewarding, and dangerous, as though you could be attacked at any moment but you can’t sit still nonetheless. Running across the plains on foot and leaping off cliffs is exhilarating (there’s no fall damage, after all), and feels like a far cry from roaming the streets of New LA looking for side quests and secrets. But the danger and excitement is outside the city walls, and you’ll need to go armed when you leave.
There’s a great loot system at play, as well as a cosmetic option to dress however you like. But more than this, the weapons and armour you equip has a meaningful effect on your combat prowess. Combat itself is fun, a mixture of real-time action and MMO-like ability-queueing that cleaves pretty close to other games in the franchise. Each character has a starting class with a number of Arts attached. These are combat abilities on cooldowns that you essentially rotate into the fight and the Soul Voice mechanic allows you to respond to your allies’ commands in the heat of battle. Allies will issue call-out and you’ll need to push the highlighted button at the right time to activate their synergy, healing or buffing you both. It helps you to know which abilities to trigger when, as most of your Arts are designed to work in conjunction with certain statuses you and your party apply to enemies.
At a certain point that still feels way, way too long, you’ll unlock your Skell, a huge mech suit that lets you move faster, fly for short periods, and deal massive damage. This is when you’ll start taking on the larger enemies, and it comes at a time in the free form campaign when you really start to need another level of exploration. It makes getting around easier, but some monsters still pose a genuine challenge.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is a game about exploration, discovery, and teamwork. Your party is the backbone of your experience, and by working with them and unlocking their potential you’ll open up more and more of Mira. With a relaxed approach to narrative and an abundance of side quests and secrets, it offers freedom on an immense scale, unrestricted by time or scale. The improved graphics, tighter AI, and additional elements like added quests, gear and characters heap extras onto what was already one of the best games of its generation and one of the best open world RPGs ever made. It would be nice to get a little more personality out of the protagonist, but the world itself is the star of the show, and Planet Mira remains one of the most dangerous yet inviting worlds you can experience. Still utterly essential, and that’s before you even consider the new story content that’s been added, the ability to swap party members quickly in the menus, and numerous other quality of life improvements such as shared experience. Definitive indeed, play this game.
