Review: Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch is a remake of Monolithsoft’s masterpiece Xenoblade Chronicles, which originally released in Japan for the Nintendo Wii in 2010. It is a science fiction-based role-playing game that some have described as playing similar to an MMO but as a single-player offline game. The Definitive Edition brings updated graphics and a remastered soundtrack, adds several quality-of-life improvements, and introduces an epilogue to the main story called “Future Connected”. It has been eight years since the original came to North America, which is when I first played it. It was a good time. Full disclosure. This is no secret as I have only written several articles about this one game. The original Xenoblade is one of my favorite games of all time, so I had a feeling that I would enjoy this experience. When playing the Definitive Edition, my goal was to discover how much better the game has become and to remind myself why it was amazing, to begin with. It was almost important to try the brand new epilogue. Xenoblade Chronicles was a nearly complete package of everything that makes a game great, and Definitive Edition just adds what was missing as well as something extra. 

Xenoblade’s world takes place on the bodies of the Bionis and the Mechonis, two continent-sized titans in an empty ocean. The titans died fighting each other in a battle long ago, and all kinds of life began to live on them. In the present day, robot invaders from Mechonis known as the Mechon waged war on the people of the Bionis who call themselves the Homs. Their onslaught is eventually pushed back thanks in no small part to Dunban, a soldier who wields the Monado, which is said to have been the sword of the Bionis and the only weapon truly effective against the Mechon. A year later, the story truly begins in a Homs settlement called Colony 9. Shulk, the protagonist of the story, is a weapons engineer who studies the Monado to unlock its secrets. Unsurprisingly, Colony 9 is suddenly attacked by the Mechon, and Shulk is forced to wield the Monado. It is then that he discovers his ability to see into the future, a power of the Monado that its previous Dunban could not use. Shulk eventually fights off the Mechon assault, after suffering several casualties, and he decides to set out on a journey to get revenge on the Mechon.

While Xenoblade does start out as a pretty standard revenge story, it becomes something much deeper. The main theme of the game is changing a terrible future by seizing your own destiny. It is a theme that evolves as the stakes get higher. Xenoblade is packed to the brim with symbolism and foreshadowing that culminate into some genuinely surprising plot twists. It was definitely worth playing this game a second time just to see that many seemingly insignificant sideways glances and lines of dialogue meant something. I could go into more detail, but even though this game is a decade old, I refuse to spoil more than I should. I would want anyone playing Xenoblade for the first time to experience it as I have. After playing every other Xenoblade game, I believe the story of this one has yet to be surpassed by its sequels.

Xenoblade has a whole cast of interesting characters, heroes and villains alike. No one is one-dimensional; even the shrill-voiced mascot character. Shulk is a kind-hearted nerd who would rather spend time in a lab until the plot upends his entire worldview. Terrible visions of the future that he cannot always change have made him increasingly pessimistic and sometimes lead to his inaction. It takes people like Shulk’s best friend Reyn to nudge him along. Reyn is a musclebound, honest jock who relies on brute force. As a true bro, he is eternally sworn to always have Shulk’s back, which is why Reyn follows him on his journey. Fiora is Shulk’s somewhat pushy childhood friend who cares deeply for him. She takes care of people but refuses to burden others. Dunban is her older brother who can be described as an RPG hero coming out of retirement. He is the most mature of the four characters from Colony 9 as he is twelve years their senior. After leaving their home, the cast eventually meets Sharla, a Homs medic from Colony 6 who has a western approach to modern medicine as she fires health out of a rifle. Sharla is like the big sister of the party. In Makna Forest, they happen upon Melia, a High Entia who can channel ether, the building block of energy on Bionis. She is also the best. For most of the main cast, their fight for survival against the is a personal vendetta, but for Riki the Nopon, he is kind of forced into it in order to pay off his debt. It seems a flimsy reason compared to everyone else’s cause, but Riki is a 40-year-old father of eleven, one of which he adopted, so he is fighting for something like everyone else.

Everyone has something to contribute to the story, and you peel back the layers of their personalities by viewing optional “Heart-to-Heart” moments as Affinity between party members becomes higher. Most of the villains are compelling, too. Unfortunately, I cannot talk about many of them without spoiling major story elements, so I will not. I have to mention is Metal Face, one of many Mechon who cannot be damaged by the Monado, steals the show in his every appearance. His actions are what spur Shulk and others into taking revenge on the Mechon. Metal Face’s motivations are pretty simple as he is only one soldier in an entire army Mechon, but he has a very intimidating presence. There are other Mechon like him, and every time a new one confronts the heroes, it changes their understanding of the battle between the Bionis and Mechonis.

The British voice performances are stellar. Jay Taylor kills it as Reyn, whose already cheeky dialogue is even more so when delivered in that voice. Jenna Coleman as Melia does a great job going from prim and proper to flipping a switch when she is made uncomfortable. I will never get tired of hearing Adam Howden as Shulk. His cries of rage when the Mechon assault Colony 9 made the character feel real to me and evoked some strong emotions in me, and this was just in the opening of the game. I do, however, get pulled out of the immersion when a bouncing furball begins saying things in that Nopon dialect; I am talking about Riki, of course. There is a Japanese voice option, but if you do not understand Japanese, you will miss out on the battle banter, which can be both helpful for timing your arts and humorous. 

As this is a remake, the most noticeable difference between Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition is the graphics. The new visuals are an obvious improvement over the original in every way. The Wii version’s environments could be appreciated at a distance, but up close, they were pretty ugly even by the standards of that system. It had the worst water effects that I have seen in a game during a time when every game, if nothing else, at least had pretty water. In the Definitive Edition, the polygon count is not much higher in most of the environments, but the highly-detailed textures make up for it. There is more foliage than ever, water now shimmers, and metal surfaces are more reflective. There are still rough edges here and there, but they do not stop Xenoblade from being more breathtaking than it ever was before. My only real issue is that certain details only render when you get very close to them, such as bushels of grass suddenly coming into view. It is hard to ignore.

Environments aside, there are also the new character models of all the main characters. There is some disagreement about whether these are upgrades from original, but I love them. They are more expressive than ever before, and the developers even redid their lip-syncing to better match the vocals. They also fit better alongside Riki and other Nopon, which are similarly cartoonish. If you have never seen the older character models, take a close look at any of the minor NPCs strolling around town. Their textures are slightly improved, but they look about as blocky as they did before.

At the time of its release, I had never played anything quite like Xenoblade. The lands of the Bionis and the Mechonis offer massive locations to explore, and they are beautiful. Let me assure you that the world of Xenoblade is as big as it looks. With few exceptions, upon entering a new area, the play can explore the map from corner to corner. It is much more rewarding to do so when taking on quests that may require you to wander off the path, but I make it a habit to discover every landmark than I can before I move on. Landmarks function as fast travel points across every map, and they are worth discovering for the extra experience points that they offer and to streamline the gameplay when backtracking. They also serve as checkpoints that your party will return to if they are defeated in battle or die from a field hazard. Not only is there dynamic weather that will shift on the fly, but there is a day-night cycle that will change the field music, NPCs that are present, many of the enemies, and sometimes the entire environment. Satorl Marsh, Eryth Sea, and Valak Mountain at night are pictures of beauty.

Of course, any open area outside of towns is sprinkled with enemies. There are no random encounters. Some enemies are only hostile when provoked while others It is important to know that while others will attack-on-sight or when reacting to movement. If your party is a high enough level, enemies will ignore them all together with the exception of Unique Monsters. These are stronger monsters that can put your abilities to the test. Most enemies you encounter will be suited for the level your party would likely be at when first arriving in a new location, but there are parts of most maps filled with enemies much too strong for anyone to handle. Even the starting area has enemies that are around level 70. The most notorious example of this is Territorial Rotbart, a level 91 Unique Monster in Gaur Plain. Hopefully, you notice these enemies before they see you first. If not, just remember that “running away is a valid tactic”. It will always be satisfying to return later to best them when you are finally ready

Xenoblade’s combat action takes place in real-time. Three members can be in your main party at one time. You control the leader of your party, who can be switched out with any other member outside of combat, while AI takes over for two companions. You can move your party leader around the battlefield as they auto-attack the targeted enemy when within range. Timed button presses called Bursts will increase certain stats of your party, so it is helpful to take advantage of them when they appear on the screen. Your party leader will perform special abilities called Arts when they are selected. Winning battles will reward players with experience for leveling up their characters, AP for improving their Arts, and SP for developing Skill perks. Enemies will also drop chest containing items such as Ether Crystals, loot, or equipment.

A character can equip up to nine different Arts at one time. The Talent Art, which is a character’s unique ability, will always be equipped and tends to define that teammate’s strength. Arts have a variety of effects. Some are stronger attacks that do even more damage when attacking an enemy from a certain angle. Others are for healing, buffs, or debuffs. Many Arts are a combination of those things. A character’s different Arts often work in conjunction with each other, so activating them in a certain order can achieve better results. Some Arts can only be used when conditions are met. After using normal Arts, it will recharge during a cool-down period. New to Definitive Edition, an exclamation point will appear over an Arts’ icon when it can be used to maximum effect, which is helpful in the heat of battle. The fundamentals of the battle system make it a more interactive experience and therefore more fun to me personally.

Your party members will often react with their own Arts to achieve combos. For example, if Shulk uses Stream Edge to inflict Break on an enemy, this will allow Reyn to Topple them with Wild Down. Fiora can follow up with Hidden Thorn to Daze them. This is the most common method for taking down larger enemies and bosses. Many opponents are resistant to these debuffs, but that can be bypassed with the Chain Attack. There is a Party Gauge with three bars that fills up when achieving critical hits or affinity bursts among other things. This Gauge can be used to revive fallen teammates, but when it is full, the party can activate a Chain Attack. This ability has all available teammates attack at the targeted foe at once, and you will be able to determine each party member’s Arts that they will use. The Chain Attack is essential for taking down the tougher enemies, especially in the late game period.

As a whole, the combat system is very addictive and flows seamlessly, and each playable character has a particular talent that gives an edge in battle. Shulk is one of the best for setting up combos and providing buffs to the team in crucial moments. Reyn is a tank made for drawing aggro from all enemies to keep the focus off his companions. Sharla’s specialty is healing and buffs that will keep the entire party on their feet after even the most damaging area of effect attacks. Dunban has naturally high agility and is great at supplying damage while evading attacks. Melia has ether attacks that work as buffs for any party member within her range and attacks that penetrate enemy defenses. Riki is the king of buffs and debuffs, and what he lacks in damage is made up for by making opponents functionally useless. Fiora is a fast attacker with a handful of abilities that can make her a field wiping machine. The party’s natural abilities along with their vast array of Arts makes everyone adaptable for a variety of play styles. 

To me, the most appealing gimmick of Xenoblade’s combat is Shulk’s visions. During combat, Shulk, and therefore the player, will see several seconds into the future. The visions are usually of a party member falling in battle. This allows players to act accordingly to protect those in danger before time runs out. There are a number of ways this can be accomplished with any character, but many of Shulk’s Monado Arts are specifically geared toward changing an unhappy future. In the event that Shulk is unable to save anyone, players can expend a bar of the Party Gauge to warn a teammate of the vision and they will be able to select an Art that may prevent the worst. I will admit that visions popping up in a battle that I am already certain to win can be a bit annoying and unnecessary, but I think Xenoblade would be less interesting without them.

If battle becomes too difficult or easy at times, Definitive Edition has added Casual Mode and Expert Mode. Weirdly enough, both of these modes can be active at once. Casual Mode simply makes battles easier. For example, normally the party would have difficulty fighting enemies with red tags, which are any enemies at least five levels higher than your party leader and are difficult to hit because they receive an agility stat bonus. Casual Mode seems to ignore those thresholds, and your party could take on enemies that would normally require significant preparation. Expert Mode allows you to set your character levels lower, but you can immediately set it back to what it was before. I recommend turning it on as soon as possible because even if you do not tweak the levels, it will cause your party to accumulate bonus experience that can be spent to give them a sudden boost in levels when needed.

As with most RPGs, characters can be equipped with different weapons and armor to affect their stats, and Xenoblade’s equipment system is deep. Some equipment will have empty slots that can be fitted with augmentations called Gems. These Gems can be received from quests, and better yet they can be crafted. They offer a variety of stat boosts, and it is totally worth it to learn how to craft the best gems to truly master the game. Some equipment conveniently has decent Gems built into it, so it is worth it to try that on when needed. Your equipment also changes the overall appearance of your characters, so you can get some interesting combinations. If you do not like the cosmetics of your current armor, you are welcome to change it in the Appearance section, a new feature in Definitive Edition. You can set your characters’ looks to that of any piece of equipment that you have owned at some point while maintaining the benefits of their main armor and weapon.

Xenoblade Chronicles has several activities apart from the main game. Most of these activities are tied to the Affinity Chart. The Affinity Chart is a web-like system that shows the relationship between all your party members as well as side characters. Each Town has its own Affinity rating that can be influenced by talking to named NPC and completing quests. These quests are usually as simple as finding collectibles or key items, talking to NPCs, or fighting monsters. The rewards they yield can be gold, experience, or items. When a town’s Affinity becomes higher, more quests become available and better items can be traded with NPCs.

There are many quests that will be completed upon meeting their conditions and rewards will instantly be received, but most quests will require you to report back to NPCs. The side characters have their own schedule, so some of them will move around the map or are unavailable at certain times of the day. Thankfully, you can change the time to any hour of the day from the main menu, and it becomes a matter of just hunting down the quest marker when they appear on your map. This is not the case for most of the quests, but some provide world-building and a broader understanding of the history of Bionis. My favorite questline in the game, which is also one of the longest, has you inadvertently aid what is essentially an underground drug ring with hilarious results.

Party Affinity is even more important for all the benefits it provides to battle. Having a higher affinity gives opportunities for longer chain attacks and lets characters share more Skills from each other’s Skill trees. Some skills are perks that are exclusive to one character, but most can be linked with other party members. Sharing them costs Affinity Coins earned through leveling up or defeating Unique Monsters. There are many ways to gain Affinity, such as doing quests, viewing Heart-to-Hearts, and giving gifts, but the simplest way is to have characters battle together. Earning affinity will come more naturally that way.

One of the greatest highlights of Xenoblade is its music. Ever since I first played through the game, I would put on its soundtrack as I worked on art and wrote articles such as this; actually, I wrote most of this review while blasting tracks like the Gaur Plain theme as I worked. This game has one of my favorite scores ever composed, and I was happy to learn that the entire soundtrack was remastered with some key themes being completely orchestrated. You Will Know Our Names and Mechanical Rhythm sound better and are more intense than ever. Engage the Enemy was already my favorite theme in the entire score. This is the song players are blessed with at most of the pivotal moments of the story. Whenever you hear those first piano keys of Engage the Enemy, you know that something big is about to go down. It is honestly difficult to resist tearing up when I hear it in conjunction with Xenoblade’s heartbreaking cinematics. If the remastered are somehow not your thing, there is an option to listen to the original tracks.

In general, Xenoblade has aged very well in terms of gameplay which makes sense because it was a bit ahead of its time. However, much of what did not work the first time has been overhauled in Definitive Edition. The maps are more functional and mark quests and objectives in an entire area. The battle heads-up display is more compact, making room for all the action on-screen while still clearly providing relevant information. Menus are more organized and probably label every item in your inventory rather than just representing them as vague icons like before. In my opinion, the most important improvement is that the inventory system allows for much larger quantities of items. The original Xenoblade had very little space, and I found myself discarding potentially useful items to make room for something I wanted at that moment. The only items I ran out of room for were the Ether Crystals, but I was perfectly fine with selling off all my weaker crystals to make room for the rare ones found late in the game. These tweaks had a huge impact on my enjoyment of the game, and they cover most of the improvements that I was hoping for. New players would never know the difference, but returning players will definitely appreciate these changes.

After all that praise, I do have some minor gripes. Finding Collectibles can still be a fight against random number generators. There is no way of ensuring your probability of finding what you need unless there is a quest marker pointing to one. However, there are no quest markers for the Colony 6 Reconstruction quest, and that requires the most effort in gathering materials throughout the entire game. Also, during battles, there are no buff or debuff timers for anything except Break, Topple, and Daze on the enemies, and it makes it a little harder to adapt in certain situations. Finding quests is easier than before, but some require you to talk to key NPCs before they will become available with little indication of who to talk to. These NPCs are marked by a green dot on your mini-map, but sometimes they will have something else to say even after you talked to them before. I recall that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 put a star by a character’s name when they had new dialogue, and I wish something similar was done here. Also, companion AI, while normally great, can be just as dumb about certain things as ever. During a rather tough battle halfway through the game, Sharla just stood in a pool of lava as her health dwindled. Even after I revived her, she continued with her suicidal shenanigans. 

Two significant additions have been added to Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition. One of those things is the Time Attack mode. This mode offers some challenges that have players take down waves of enemies as fast as possible. Completing these tasks earns Noponstones which can be redeemed for armor and Skill Books. These Skill Books allow you to level your characters’ Arts up to their maximum proficiency. I believe that is the best use for Noponstones. The armor that can be earned from Time Attack is the Exotic gear exclusively available in this mode, but it is mostly good for aesthetic purposes and can be received from doing well in the challenges.

Future Connected, an epilogue that takes place one year after the events of the main game, is what I was most excited to experience when I picked up Definitive Edition. As I have been through Xenoblade before, I jumped straight into Future Connected before doing anything else. I do not suggest doing the same until you have played this game before. The opening of Future Connected immediately spoils the ending of Xenoblade. The features Melia, Shulk, and two new Nopon characters named Kino and Nene, children on Riki. This time around, Melia is the main protagonist, and the story revolves around her efforts to take back Alcamoth, the High Entia capital, from the Fog Beast. Future Connected takes place on the Bionis’ Shoulder, an area that was originally cut from the main game. It is inhabited by all kinds of lifeforms, but the region is mostly unexplored.

The story of Future Connected does not reach the heights of the main game, and it feels like an appetizer and set up for something more. Most of the original cast does not make an appearance, which is disappointing because I would have liked to see how their lives have changed since Xenoblade ended. The gameplay is similar with a few key differences. Shulk and Melia play the same as they have before, and Kino and Nene control like stand-ins for Sharla and Reyn. However, Shulk cannot use visions, and the Chain Attack has been replaced with a singular powerful attack with the help of Nopon prospectors. Plus, the characters start at level 60. The new tracks that have been composed for Future Connected are quality, particularly the catchy new battle themes. They have a different flavor to the main game’s music, but I can really get into them. I am glad to have Future Connected at all. Monolithsoft could have just released the base game and called it a day, but they chose to put in a lot of effort to make something more.

All that there really is to say is that if you enjoy massive RPG experiences with deep combat, great story, and beautiful music, get Xenoblade. It is a masterpiece that has stood the test of time and feels better than ever. My playthrough of Xenoblade took me about 120 hours when combined with Future Connected. I did tackle nearly every quest that I could by the time I reached the end of both stories, so it may take anyone doing a normal run of the game a lot less time. It was definitely worth it to relive my memories of the first title in the Xenoblade franchise. I hope any new fans picking up Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition create great memories of their own.