A fine RPG with a fresh coat of paint

I had never played Xenoblade Chronicles before. I have played other games in the series, but never had a chance to try out this particular game, either on Wii or 3DS back in the day. Now, with a brand-new coat of paint, improved systems, and an all new epilogue, Xenoblade Chronicles makes its way to the Switch, and boy, am I glad I got to finally play it.

Players take on the role of Shulk, a young scientist who has been trying to study an ancient blade known as the Monado to figure out its powers. You see, this blade was used years ago to hold off an army of evil robots known as the Mechon, and Shulk is wanting to know exactly how it works because we all know it’s only a matter of time before the Mechon tries to strike again. Oh, and everyone on this world is actually living on the bodies of two giant titans that ended up killing each other in a fight years and years ago. It’s a non-conventional story to say the least.

Platforms: Switch
MSRP: $59.99
Price I’d pay: $59.99

The game is an open world RPG that prides itself on its large world and strategic combat. Let’s start off talking about the world of Bionis. With the updated look, Bionis looks beautiful; with lush scenery and a giant open world to explore, I found myself lost in it and not minding at all. Luckily, the game does a great job of pointing the player in the right direction with a mini-map that gives players a dotted line to follow if they feel the need, or they can completely ignore it to search all the nooks and crannies to collect things, find secret mini-boss monsters, and other things. Collecting items to fill up the encyclopedia was always rewarding, since each section I completed gave me a gem I could socket into my equipment. Finding and killing the special mini-bosses rewarded me with unique weapons and armor, and it was merely a fun time running around the newly opened areas and exploring.

The combat is where many players will find their love. Combat is played in real time and players can control a single party member while in combat. They can switch characters at any time, and the party members that aren’t controlled are controlled by the AI. While sometimes I found the AI would do a few things that had me scratching my head, I was ok with most of it. Combat feels a bit like an active MMO style where characters auto attack a selected enemy and the player chooses which abilities to use. These are called Arts. There are different types of Arts that can be used that will do area of effect damage, heal allies, debuff enemies, and much more. Some are area sensitive, so Shulk may need to be positioned to the back of an enemy to do extra damage. So the player will need to wait for his party members to gain the aggro of the enemy so that it stops focusing on Shulk.

On top of this, there is a combo system in place that allows players to knock over enemies and topple them so they are left vulnerable. Shulk also has the Monado on his side, which offers him special attacks and buffs as well as the ability to see into the future. This premonition ability plays out during boss fights, where Shulk can turn the tide of a major thing that could lose the fight. It’s a nice addition to an already deep combat experience. While combat can get difficult at times, it is very rewarding, especially when taking on that one difficult fight to finally finish it off using a nice combo link attack.

The nice thing here is the fact that losing a fight doesn’t actually result in a game over. The auto-save system is pretty good here, and all items collected and even level progress is carried over when I respawn from death, and with a decent fast travel system in place, I’m never too far from a place where I can gear up or go grind for a few levels here or there.
Leveling up gives party members points that they can then use to upgrade their arts to be even more powerful. At certain levels, characters will also learn new arts to use. Upgrading doesn’t stop there, there are tons of equipment to use that offer not only stat boosts, but other passive things as well depending on the rarity. I mentioned them earlier, but the gem system can give a regular piece of equipment a nice boost in power just by crafting and socketing the gem to it. There is a major aspect to relationships in Xenoblade Chronicles, where party members become more attached to each other.There are multiple ways to increase this level and it allows for shared buffs via a skill tree. While I found it a bit bothersome, the boost it can give the party can be significant.

The new epilogue chapter that is added takes place a year after the events of the main game, so new players will obviously want to wait to take it on. It is completely standalone and can be accessed right from the main menu from the start of the game. It’s nice to have a brand new section of the game added for even more, and with this game already being nearly 40 hours, it adds much more to the overall package.

While I enjoy all the cutscene dialog, the in-game dialog can get monotonous at times. I swear, if I never hear Reyn’s “Whatta bunch ‘o jokas” again after a fight, it will be too soon. What is a stand out in the audio department is the soundtrack. It has both classical sounds as well as hard rock that mix together for beautiful tracks that can be both somber or get players pumped up for a battle.

Xenoblade Chronicles is a fantastic game. It has some feelings of Final Fantasy XII, but at the same time, feels unlike any other game. The combat is complex and challenging, exploration is both fun and rewarding, and the story and world is something to be seen. Fans of the original game can still have a blast here and people who never tried it before on Wii or 3DS should most certainly pick this one up. This is one of those RPG that will be on top 10 lists for years.

Review copy of game provided by publisher.