Developed by Monolith Soft and directed by Tetsuya Takahashi, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is Nintendo’s last big release for the Nintendo Switch in 2017. Xenoblade Chronicles is an action RPG series with expansive, surreal worlds and addictive combat mechanics. Technically the third game in the series, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has more of a thematic connection to the original than its predecessor, Xenoblade Chronicles X. This new title has a standalone story, so it is not necessary to play the other titles in order to understand this one. The first Xenoblade is considered by many of its fans to be one of the greatest RPGs of all time, for good reason. The question is if the newest entry into the franchise is just as good as or even better than the original. While Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a great story, memorable music, and an amazing world, its several quirks hold it back.
From left to right: Poppi, Tora, Pyra, Azurda, Rex, Nia, and Dromarch.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 takes place in Alrest, a world covered in an endless sea of clouds. People survive in this world by living on Titans. The Titans range in size; some are the size of boats, but others are even the size of large islands with entire cities built upon them. In the world of Alrest, there are also people known as Drivers, who command Blades which are essentially personified weapons that grant their wielders superhuman abilities. The story follows Rex, a salvager who makes a living by diving beneath the cloud sea to uncover relics of ancient nations that sank beneath the clouds. Rex is aware that the Titans are reaching the end of the lives and those living on them will have nowhere left to go. Because of this, he wishes to discover Elysium, a paradise atop the World Tree growing in the center of Alrest, and open it to the rest of the world. Before long, Rex is employed on a salvaging mission, during which he discovers, Pyra, an especially powerful Blade call the Aegis, who asks him to bring her to Elysium. Rex obliges, becoming her Driver, and he journeys with her, all the while fighting against those who want Pyra’s power for themselves.
Hardhaigh Palace in Alba Cavanich, the capital of the Ardainian Empire.
The story is filled to the brim with several overlapping plotlines. Expect topics like warring empires, military occupation, isolationism, and immigrant refugees that arise as a result of the dying worlds that the characters live in; these are things that Rex witnesses along the way, and he believes that reaching Elysium will solve everyone’s problems. In his the pursuit of his goal, Rex’s blind optimism gives others hope or at least sparks their curiosity, which leads him to accrue a band of party members throughout his travels. It is clear that characters mostly listen to what he has to say because he carries a very powerful Blade everywhere he goes, but it is Rex’s positive attitude and dedication to Pyra that really drive the story. That said, the plot does have a tendency to become regularly derailed due to a random inconvenience to the heroes that could probably be better suited as a side-quest, but instead players are forced to do things like chase boat hijackers across several Titans. Thankfully, when the story does get back on track, it is usually highly entertaining.
The main focus of the story is on the relationship between Rex and Pyra.
As the stars of the show, Rex and Pyra are great, but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has a cast of memorable and well-written supporting characters. The way that each one is animated is highly expressive. The character designs are all over the place, mostly due to the fact that several artists were brought on to create the Blades; their appearances range from terrifying to risque, but focusing too much on that would be to take all these wonderful personalities at face value. Nia is easily my personal favorite party member; this spunky catgirl rides around on the back of Dromarch, her white tiger blade with a butler-like demeanor. I find Nia’s character arc to be the most interesting, as her reasons for traveling with Rex naturally evolve over the course of the story, going from someone who has no faith in the quest for Elysium to becoming a large motivator for Rex and friends. Others party members like Tora and Poppi are tons of fun, but they just feel like they are along for the ride because that is almost exactly why they join the adventure, not to understate their usefulness. Poppi is an all-purpose tool.
Nia is often brash, which is counteracted by Dromarch’s polite demeanor.
There are of course several antagonistic characters, like the terrorist group known as Torna, whose goals are clouded in mystery. Each member of this group is fun to watch and listen to, but I can hardly talk about them without spoilers. The main two you will meet are Jin, the leader of Torna, and Malos, his second-in-command. They have two of some of the coolest designs in the game. There is also the stoic Morag, the “Special Inquisitor” of the Ardainian empire who wields the equally stoic Brighid, one of the most powerful fire-based Blades. Morag is opposite to a character like Zeke, Bringer of Chaos and wielder of the Shining Eye of Justice, who shows up at random points in the quest, demanding that Rex relinquish the Aegis. He both looks and acts like someone made up of anime tropes thrown into a blender. So he is great, as is his Blade partner, Pandoria, who indulges his nonsense despite being a little more grounded.
The setting of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 greatly serves to enhance its story, which would only be half as interesting if everyone was not running around on the bodies of Titans. Each area to explore is massive in scope, with even some of the smaller ones having plenty to explore. When arriving in the second major area, Gormott Province, I was awestruck by the titan’s head moving in the background as I ran across its grassy back. From there, the worlds continued to be more diverse, each with with its own climate. As you explore, you will unlock fast travel points when discovering landmarks. Enemies are also wandering throughout each area, and encounters with them are fought in real-time, on location. Many foes will be non-hostile (most lower-leveled enemies will not attack), but some will chase you all away across a map if they so much as look in your direction. There are even high-level enemies pacing around the starting areas. It makes each titan worth revisiting when your party is strong enough to fight those tougher battles in the post-game.
The Gormott Province is huge and one of the more open areas of the game.
Unfortunately, these size of each area can sometimes work against the gameplay. When you are given a quest objective, a marker will point the player in the right direction. The waypoint is often placed at the very farthest place you need to go, even if there are required stops to make along the way. Given how there are several layers to these maps, the path forward is not always clear. I found myself heading directly toward to objective and often hit dead ends, and I would majorly backtrack to go completely around, sometimes through a maze-like pathway, only to hit another dead end, thinking it was not the way forward, but it was. I just needed to find a key or flip a switch somewhere with no indication that I had to do so. To be fair, without twists and turns like this, exploration might have been too straightforward, but when the map is so wide open but with only one way to progress, it does more to frustrate players than provide them with fun gameplay.
It is easy to get lost in the scenery of Uraya. Sometimes literally.
Even if the exploration can get a little tricky at times, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 features a mostly familiar combat system that the series is known for, with several of its own unique improvements. The mechanic that sets Xenoblade Chronicles 2 apart from other entries in the series is how it uses Blades in a fight. Each playable character is a Driver that can engage with up to three Blades equipped at once. During a battle, the player will control the lead party character, with very limited control over the actions of other party members. Their AI can be tweaked, but I found myself pleased that my allies knew how to respond in most situations. Healers will heal when health is running low, and allies will ready themselves for combos. Attacks can be broken down into four main parts: auto-attacks, arts, specials, and chain attacks.
Auto-attacks are standards attacks that become stronger with each hit in a combo chain. Using them also fills a gauge of arts abilities. Arts will have specific effects, like stacking buffs or debuffs, which are essential for battles. Using arts also fills a special gauge, which lets a Driver’s Blade attack directly. Specials have four different levels; the more the gauge fills, the higher the level of special attack. The fourth level requires the Drivers to maximize battle affinity with their Blades during combat. With every ability used in battle, the Party Gauge is slowly filling. Sections of the Party Gauge can be spent to revive a fallen ally, but completely filling it allows for a Chain Attack, an all-out attack against a single enemy. These are the basics of the game’s battle system, which is much simpler to master than it seems.
The HUD during battles can be busy, but it is simple to understand.
Learning how to play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 may be overwhelming at first, but most of the mechanics are slowly presented to players in a digestible manner in the earlier chapters of Xenoblade. However, even closer to the endgame, tutorial windows will pop up to explain brand new battle mechanic that the plot just introduced. It can be rather annoying, but it mixes things up a bit by giving more options to the players, even after it seems they have mastered the game. Some of these late game mechanics are actually helpful in combating the difficulty spikes in the last few chapters. It is hard to talk about these new mechanics in detail without spoiling major plot points, but when they are introduced, they do add a lot to the battles, and using them to turn the tide of battle is satisfying.
Outside of battle, player characters can be customized in several ways. Drivers can be equipped with accessories with a wide range of perks, but most importantly, they can equip different blades. Equipping a blade affects the Driver’s stats, and each one offers its own elemental affinity and a set of arts, so it is helpful to have a series of blades that complement each other. It could mean the difference between a long battle and a swift victory. Blades themselves will be locked down to a single driver. They can be powered up by completing small objectives in their Affinity Charts and equipping Chips and Aux Cores. Getting new Blades to engage with is as simple as resonating with Core Crystals, which can be found through regular gameplay. There is a finite number of Rare Blades that can appear randomly from these crystals, with a higher chance of finding them in Rare or Legendary Core Crystals. I nearly lost my mind trying to get all the Rare Blades out of these glorified gacha capsules. Thankfully, certain Rare Blades can be earned by progressing in the story or completing side-quests.
Adenine is one of many fun and endearing Rare Blades.
Speaking of side-quests, there are quite a few to keep players occupied throughout the game. Some will only appear after certain story events, completing other side-quests in a chain, or building affinity with a Rare Blade. At some point in the game, you can send disengaged Blades on timed missions, which is a decent way of strengthening them. Overall, these quests do well in creating world-building, and some are quite humorous. Learning about certain Blades through their specific quests has made them more endearing, while some turned out to be unlikable. Unfortunately, several of these quests are really more trouble than they are worth, and the payoff is nothing close to the cost and effort put into completing them. I did not mind so much because there are certain quests I almost felt obligated to complete, like replacing someone’s boat after the main party had accidentally destroyed it beyond repair. Regardless of their outcome, I am pleased by how much these side-quests add to the narrative.
The quality of sound in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 varies. While the voice acting is generally good, depending on whose voice it is, the lip syncing does not always line up quite right. As far as the main cast goes, Rex’s voice seems to be the weakest. The delivery of some his lines, especially when he is supposed to be emoting anger, just does not sound convincing. He does have his moments, and he is definitely not awful. I am not particularly bothered by it, but there is more swearing than I am used to hearing in a Nintendo game, even if most of it is British slang that I am not totally familiar with. Oh yeah, most of the voice talent seems to come from the United Kingdom, most likely to adhere to the spirit of the first game, which kept the UK’s localization when the game was finally ported to North America. The Xenoblade series is also infamously noisy during its battles; all the shouting characters do during fights provide helpful cues for what arts to use, but there can be times when it would be nice if those Ardainian soldiers would just shut up. “Think you can take me?!” “Don’t forget me!” “YOU’RE DONE!” Imagine those lines simultaneously screamed at you by three different enemies for five straight minutes.
Even if the voice acting can occasionally be sub-par, the music is phenomenal. When I heard Yasunori Mitsuda was the lead composer for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, I expected nothing less. The composer is known for being a workaholic and made his first mark in the industry by creating the score for Chrono Trigger. If you are familiar with his past work, it is easy to recognize his style. Mitsuda’s sounds fit well alongside the music of the first game, conveying similar feelings; the score of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is almost like a continuation of the original’s, but it also brings something new to the series. Nothing here gets too repetitive, with each Titan having completely different moods set with their themes. I have my favorites that get stuck in my head, and I would sometimes fast travel to a certain place to hear a specific song as I wander around the area. Mor Ardain’s daytime theme is my jam.
The fights are fun to watch and become increasingly dynamic as more characters enter the fray.
Everything comes together in a dramatic presentation in Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s cinematic moments. Some of the best battles scenes I have seen in any video game have been in this one game. The fight choreography is spectacular, with the showdown at the very end of the game’s first chapter setting a high bar. The only problem is how frequent the gameplay becomes disconnected from the events of a cutscene. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will force players into battles that must be won in order to progress, but the events following the battle will show that you lost in spite of your efforts. It seems like it would make more sense to have the fight be unwinnable to begin with, which is something the first Xenoblade Chronicles did a lot, including in the first major confrontation of the game. The outcome of that fight had a huge impact on the characters and me personally. It was clear that your party was not yet ready to face this enemy. I feel as if Xenoblade Chronicles 2 could have benefited from this approach to tie in the fights with the actual results a little better.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a flawed game, but its best qualities show through. It definitely is not a game for everyone, with its mature content and language, and the gameplay likely appeals more to gamers who enjoy lengthy role-playing games. My first playthrough lasted over 100 hours. It is not as simple to pick up and play as most Nintendo titles, but it has some really tight mechanics that become second-nature to use with a little practice. In terms of its story, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 does not break ground, as it seems to borrow more from the previous games in the series than do anything new, with the exception of the Blades. Despite that, everything it does well culminates in a fun experience with hours of enjoyment, and there are definitely those who will find something unforgettable here. All-in-all, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a strong title for the Switch to end 2017.
