Released ten years ago for the Nintendo Wii, the original version of Xenoblade Chronicles very nearly didn’t get a western release at all. Thankfully, after a campaign that came to be known as Operation Rainfall secured the game’s release in Europe and in US territories, it did. It received critical acclaim from fans of the Japanese RPG genre and more than lived up to its high expectations.
Xenoblade Chronicles along with its sequel Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and the spin-off Xenoblade Chronicles X were developed by RPG veterans Monolith Soft. Monolith is the same team responsible for creating Xenogears and the Xenosaga trilogy. While none of the games are connected they all share similar themes. Let’s take a look at 5 things we loved and 5 things we didn’t to see if this definitive edition lives up to its legacy.
10 Don't: A Fairly Steep Learning Curve At First
Considering the number of complexities that can usually be found in a Japanese RPG, Xenoblade Chronicles is a surprisingly accessible game. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to take in for some gamers that aren’t used to the genre.
There are a lot of tutorials to get through in the game but unfortunately, as with many games of this size, they can easily be forgotten. This is especially so for gamers that may take long breaks between their time with the game. There is a casual mode to remedy this and most of the game complexities should become second nature for most players.
9 Loved: The Updated Character Models
Xenoblade Chronicles was always a nice looking game and absolutely pushed the Nintendo Wii to its limits in terms of its world and monster designs. However, if there was one area that divided fans in the original version it was the character models.
In the older version, they looked blurry and lacking in color, but worse still, their hands looked like plastic action figures. In the Definitive Edition, the character models have been brought in line with Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with improvements to shading, animation, and of course the hands.
8 Don't:Â The Voice Acting Is An Acquired Taste
One aspect of Xenoblade Chronicles which has always divided fans if the English localization. While there isn’t anything particularly terrible about it, it isn’t quite up to the standard of other Nintendo JRPGs like the Fire Emblem series.
Fans of JRPGs and anime will find the voice acting perfectly acceptable, but gamers used to AAA work like that seen in games like The Last of Us could find it a little jarring. On the plus side, however, Xenoblade does have a sort of Saturday morning cartoon show feel to it, and if one were to look at it that way they would find it a much more enjoyable experience. Furthermore, players can switch to the original Japanese voice-overs if they wish.
7 Loved: Incredible Soundtrack
There is one area regarding Xenoblade Chronicles that hasn’t aged at all and that is the fantastic soundtrack. It’s as good now as it was ten years ago, and the real icing on the cake is that Monolith Soft has also remastered the soundtrack.
In addition, players also have the choice of switching between the original track or the remastered version which is excellent for those that want to keep it as close to the original as possible - either option provides gamers with an epic score to listen to.
6 Don't: It’s Still A Wii Game At Heart
There has been a great deal of work that has gone into improving the character models and many of the environments in Xenoblade Chronicles. Unfortunately, aside from some reworked textures and a more colorful world to explore, it’s still a Nintendo Wii game at its heart.
Ultimately, the Definitive Edition looks pretty close to Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and even the Wii U’s Xenoblade Chronicles X. It is an obvious upgrade over the original game but fans shouldn’t go in expecting a brand new game.
5 Loved: A Cast Of Well-Developed Characters
One only has to look at Monolith Soft’s history to see that they know how to tell a fantastic story while also creating well-developed characters. At first glance, Xenoblade Chronicles seems like it follows typical JRPG anime clichés, naive youth on a collision course with destiny, the excitable best friend, and the princess-like blonde.
However, the characters in Xenoblade Chronicles have the ability to surprise even the most jaded JRPG fans. They transcend their JRPG stereotypes by being unpredictable with great backstories.
4 Don't: A Lot Of Grinding
Fans of Japanese RPGs usually take the good with the bad and one of the genre’s most polarizing aspects is usually the need to grind out battles and level up. Fans of the genre will usually find a lot to love about the grinding because reaching higher levels means the player’s characters are powerful enough to vanquish all of their enemies.
However, those that aren’t used to fighting repetitively for hours on end may find the grinding aspect a little too monotonous. Thankfully, Xenoblade’s combat system is good enough to make most players forget about the repetition.
3 Loved: An Amazing Story
In addition to having great character development, Xenoblade Chronicles boasts an excellent story too. While it isn’t as deep as the Xenosaga Trilogy and Xenogears, it still retains many of the Xeno series traits like fallen gods and destiny.
It’s how the character’s relationships, the world, and the story keeps developing over its 60 plus hours of gameplay that will keep players coming back. Additionally, the story has been expanded with a standalone epilogue that can last up to 20 hours called Future Connected which is bigger than most single-player games.
2 Don't: A Lot Of Text
In addition to the repetition of grinding, another aspect that JRPG fans love what the average gamer may hate is there is a lot of text to read. JRPG fans, especially those that grew up playing 8Bit and even 32Bit RPGs will be used to reading tons of text.
However, modern gamers that are used to fully voiced soundtracks may find it difficult to pay attention when all they want to do is play the game. Thankfully, there are always waymarkers for players to follow if they did lose concentration at any point during a text based conversation.
1 Loved: Massive Sprawling World
A big part of what makes Xenoblade Chronicles' story so good is the game’s world is such a joy to explore. The game takes place on the remnants of two gigantic mech-like gods called the Bionis and the Mechonis that died in combat with each other thousands of years ago.
Despite the aging machine that Xenoblade was built for, its gaming world never fails to impress with each area looking better and more unique than the last. There are thousands of quests and secrets to discover and there's always a good reason to explore its vast and unique lands.