Review – Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Developer: Monolift soft | Publisher: Nintendo

Xenoblade Chronicles X was first released back in 2015 on the Wii U, where it didn’t receive the audience it deserved. The Xenoblade series was still in its infancy and the Wii U was limping along in its final years. With the announcement of the Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch, I was delighted that the oddball of the series was finally about to get some recognition and reach a much wider audience.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition opens with the destruction of Earth and the desperate attempt of evacuation by the few surviving members of humanity upon a large vessel called the White Whale. Some time after the escape, the remaining Earthlings once again come under attack as they are forced into an emergency landing on the planet Mira, a habitable planet and the setting for the adventure due to unfold.

While Xenoblade Chronicles X isn’t as story driven as the rest of the series, it’s important not to underestimate the narrative on offer here. The world is full of side stories and affinity quests with potential party members that compliment the main chapters. The game is about a desperate struggle of survival with odds stacked against the human race, facing imminent extinction. Exploration for resources is as important as defending against the supreme alien races mysteriously desperate to drive humanity to extinction, and Xenoblade Chronicles X couldn’t possibly fulfil its potential without the side quests to enrich it.

From a gameplay perspective, the side quests feeling germane to the narrative really helps the players’ motivation to complete them. They feel as though they blend well with the main story quests, and some are a requirement in order to begin the next chapter regardless. They rarely feel forced, nor do they feel like needless padding or grinding, and make the world and people around you feel important.

Combat in Xenoblade Chronicles X is real time but based on a cool-down system, much like popular MMOs. You begin the game with only a couple of attack methods, known as “Arts” to choose from, and wait for them to cooldown while your character auto-attacks before your next input. During the opening hour this feels slow and unintuitive, but as you approach more difficult enemies, up your rank and unlock more arts, it becomes more intricate and engaging to deploy. Over time I found myself excited for the next fight and could not wait for my party to overcome each obstacle in our way and utilise the arts I had selected.

Combat doesn’t really have the time to become stale in this game, either. There’s a class system that you can upgrade and change at will, meaning that your strategy will likely never remain the same throughout the playthrough. You could master a class based around defence and support, and then later move on to an all-out offence.

Exploration is a key component to Xenoblade Chronicles X specifically. Early in the game you are taught how to locate a mining area and to plant mining probes. These act as beacons which reveal challenges and quests local to them on the map. While it may sound like a chore, spotting a beacon in the distance tempts the player to explore further and overcome any challenges in the way, whether it’s tough terrain to cross or life forms that attack you upon detection. With the combat system being as satisfying as it is and knowing how important it was to level up, I couldn’t help but jump in at any given opportunity.

Opinions may vary with this, but I did sometimes feel like the game was bogged down by a few too many systems. Keeping up with all of the arts I could assign to not only my main character, but the twenty plus potential party members felt overwhelming. I didn’t have to use them all, and often I would opt to shuffle between the same five or six members, but it still felt time consuming to make sure I had the best set up for them all. Not only did I need to keep up with the arts, but party members have six armour parts and two weapons to customise. Keeping on top of this is vital to success. If you love to go deep into a games mechanics then there’s no doubt you’ll enjoy the customisation on offer here, but it often felt overwhelming for me, even though there is an auto-set option available.

Graphically, this game is a masterpiece considering the hardware it is running on. Although limited to thirty frames per second, this game looks incredible on the Nintendo Switch, even in handheld mode. The open world simply vibrant and exploration is complimented by beautiful vistas. The game very occasionally loses a couple of frames causing a slight stutter, but I can’t overstate how rarely this happens. You’re unlikely to spot this while exploring or even in combat. There are occasional ugly textures that stick out, and some of the character models do leave a lot to be desired – but it’s important to remember this is a definitive edition of a ten year old game at the time of writing.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition also offers some much needed quality of life additions from the original entry. Party members can be changed almost anywhere, a “Follow Ball” has been introduced that produces a path for you to follow to your designated quest and there’s an additional chapter at the end of the game that helps follow up from the ending of the original game.

There’s a lot on offer for those who love open world JRPGs. Although the many systems in the game can feel overwhelming, the game itself is a delight to play and difficult to put down. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitve Edition offers strong gameplay mechanics and a decent enough narrative to see you through the game. If you love the series, or simply can’t get enough of JRPGs, this is a must have for your Nintendo Switch library.

9.5 out of 10

code provided by publisher | Tested on Nintendo switch