Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Review

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Fast Facts

The final piece of the puzzle has finally arrived to the Nintendo Switch, with Monolith Soft answering the cries of Nintendo Wii U fans the world over. I guess more importantly this game arrives to the droves of fans that have fallen in love with the Xenoblade series on Nintendo Switch and perhaps weren’t quite old enough to own a Nintendo Wii U. Or were perhaps too sensible to buy one in the first place.

The story of Xenoblade Chronicles X takes us to the year 2054. The Earth as we know has been destroyed, simply by getting in the way of an intergalactic war between two Alien races. Talk about wrong place wrong time.

In true Wall-E style, a handful of giant human carrying enterprise ships managed to escape Earth just prior to its implosion. Most failing to escape the atmosphere, or worse picked off for sport by one of the mystery alien factions. Our story follows one of these ships, the USS White Whale which has crash landed on the vast and untamed Avatar like planet, Mira.

A World Worth Getting Lost In

We follow our protagonist, who although fully customisable from voice to character design we will henceforth refer to as Cross. Upon awakening with amnesia from the crash, we quickly party up and begin our early explorations of the planet Mira. We begin by making early choices around when to engage in battles and when to move on.

The battle system is anything but turn based, relying on quick movement which can aid dodging enemy attacks. The ability to target appendages and cause enemies to be incapacitated or even to fall over can also help you strike the balance between shooting or distance attacks. and getting up close with a melee strike. Couple this with cooldown delays, instructing party members or more often than not taking that instruction yourself all adds up to a very typical Xenoblade like fighting mechanic.

If you’re a Xenoblade fan, this will feel very familiar and if this is your first foray into the world of Xenoblade, this may be a great place to start. I simply love the battle system and complexity that this brings as you work your way deeper into the game. You simply need to have every single technique and style at your disposal and rarely do battles ever feel the same, it’s gripping and enticing every single time.

Its definitely worth referencing that there isn’t anything particularly new when it comes to how battle sequences work in Xenoblade Chronicles X. and similarly to Xenoblade DE the 3 party system, with 2 AI based fighting companions is still very much the same.

A Site To See

The world itself, or more specifically the planet Mira, and our initial cityscape of New Los Angeles is vast, and by vast I mean massive. The scale is almost incomprehensible and when you process that this city is literally the detached habitat unit of the USS White Whale you start to realise just how much there is to see in the game.

Xenoblade as a series has often been seen as prolific in its storytelling. Typically so narrative driven in its approach. Full of constant emotive outpouring of sadness/joy/excitement. When it comes to Xenoblade Chronicles X it puts more emphasis on world building than character development. Whilst the overarching story is gripping and exciting with many sci-fi twists and turns along the way. The silent protagonist just feels a little dated, limiting emotional depth.

I know that view point around having a full customisable protagonist can land as controversial and I totally get it. It’s pretty cool to pick your own style, select your own response in conversations and be the character you want to be. It worked for Link in Breath of the Wild right? Well yes, but Link has earned his status and character across 30 years. For Cross, this is a solo outing. With the only real redeeming feature being, I have amnesia and I’m hard as nails. It’s tough to fall in love with the character dynamics here. Not to say it doesn’t get better as the game moves forward. You do however need to put in a lot of hours to feel this.

Going The Distance

There’s a lot to be said about the scope and depth on offer with Xenoblade Chronicles X. Even more so with the Definitive Edition. You will easily exceed 100 hours to experience everything. You could easily lose a couple of weeks play time just dabbling into side quests. Let alone the additional story content included in the DE. Lots are just fetch tasks, but there’s some intrigue along the way too. There are also layers of quality of life improvements in this definitive edition. With improved visuals that are lush and colourful. Design for the Mechs (Skells), classes, arts and loadouts offer tons of customisation. This allows you to bring your own style to the game.

If you love tweaking and experimenting builds there’s a lot to dig into. This extends to the squad-based online features which let you share progress and team up asynchronously.

Verdict

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a sprawling, deeply immersive experience that is familiar and comforting in its execution. It’s vast and lush and only limited by the fact that so much was learned across the last 10 years as the Xenoblade series has matured and improved over time. I would absolutely recommend JRPG fans alike take a look. It’s a really interesting spring board in the series, and with Switch 2 on its way this may well get some free enhancements to make it even prettier in the months ahead.

Rapid Reviews Rating

4 out of 5

4

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition can be purchased for the Nintendo Switch at the following link