Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition Review
Change the Future and Seize Your Destiny in this modern Nintendo Classic.
“Then haste we down to meet thy friends and foes;
To place thy friends in ease, the rest in woes.
For here though death doth end their misery,
I'll there begin their endless tragedy.” -Thomas Kyd
“We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things.“ -Isabel Allende
“Thus the killing of a god may sometimes come to be confounded with the execution of a criminal.“ -James Fraizer
From the dawn of Creation, we have grappled with our relationship to the forces that shape the world around us. In the earliest days, we put ourselves on equal footing with gods and spirits, believing ourselves capable of compelling action from these forces. As we learn that the rituals developed to do this have no impact on these Divinities, fear begins to set in. Primitive Humanity realizes we are not on equal footing with these forces, and demands transform into requests. Some step in to become arbiters between humanity and the supernatural, are believed, and establish religions based on new rituals revolving around our subservience to these perceived greater forces.
Time moves on, and as any servant knows, the more you understand your master, the better service you can render. To this endeavor, Fraizer offers a hypothesis; That we begin to study God, and in doing so discover Science instead. Yet humanity’s capacity for understanding is outstripped by our curiosity. The fields of Anthropology and Archaeology show us it is possible to know something is there, and yet fumble at any attempts to understand it’s purpose. What would happen if that drive for understanding put us on a collision course with forces indifferent to these attempts? How would such a force respond to our efforts? And if it ultimately ended up being detrimental to our well-being, would we have the drive and capability to defy destiny and seize our futures from it?
Xenoblade Chronicles and the events surrounding it’s release tell one such story. It sets us on a path to explore a vast world beyond anything we can ever hope to understand, gradually expanding our awareness and raising the stakes with perfect pacing and a wonderful literary synergy with it’s gameplay. Are we mere reactors to forces beyond our authorship, or can we seize our destiny and forge our own world free from the tyranny of these forces? Xenoblade sets out to answer these questions in a deep and thought-provoking adventure, and does so with a gusto and ambition I have rarely seen in a game.
Rainmakers
The year is 2011. It’s the waning days of the Nintendo Wii, and after a series of software missteps entirely of their own doing, Nintendo is preparing to move on from first home console I have owned since the SNES after just 5 years of support. As an early adopter and active investor in the enterprise, I was heartbroken and angry. I felt that if the system was supported with games we wanted to play, it could have continued unabated instead of leaping into the expensive HD Generation in the middle of continuing economic turmoil. One of those later games was Xenoblade Chronicles. From it’s debut announcement in 2009, fans the world over were vocal about wanting to play this in North America.
Despite these requests, NoA refused, culminating in the fan campaign Project Rainfall. Denied by Nintendo, numerous fans of RPGs, myself included, made their voices heard, gathering press and industry attention and opening a discussion on Localization that became so loud that Nintendo themselves asked us to cease. We didn’t, and so we prevailed despite the odds favoring an indifferent Titan. Xenoblade Chronicles was to be released with the English Localization as a GameStop exclusive. I was thrilled. The following spring, I stepped into GameStop to purchase the game I and others had fought so hard for, and set out on what is still one of the most impressive adventures I have ever experienced in this medium.
With a scope and open nature second to none, it all but crystalized my perspective that Nintendo was moving on too quickly, and came as close as any game could to fulfilling the little system’s potential. The game was to be my Wii Swansong, the bittersweet farewell to the system that in many ways changed my life. More games in the series followed the first game’s success, but I was unable to play X, not having a WiiU, and Xenoblade 2 failed to hook me despite an interesting premise on my first attempt. It was only when a Remastered version of Xenoblade showed up at the 2020 Nintendo Direct that they again had my full attention. I bought it day one, and it awaited it’s inevitable playthrough comfortably on my shelf.
The day of destiny finally arriving, I looked up to see two Titans looming above me.
Clash of the Titans
We open on a shot of two Titans locked in eternal struggle with one another amidst an endless ocean. As they both land a lethal blow on one another a narrator explains that as time marches on life begins to flourish on both Titans. Differences lead to misunderstanding, and misunderstanding boils over into conflict as the denizens of the two titans initiate a war, doomed to continue the struggle of their forebears. It is with this context that you are put in the shoes of Shulk, a Researcher looking into the Monado, a mysterious weapon that helped them turn the tide in the last battle. After an introductory moment of tranquility, he and his friends are quickly thrust into renewed conflict after a brutal attack by the denizens of the other Titan, known as Mechon.
The resulting tragedy gives our heroes the impetus for their adventure that will ultimately span the length of both Titans. Xenoblade is a story told in several acts, each building on one another and pulling from sources as Diverse as The Count of Monte Cristo and Prometheus Unbound. The first few acts follow the party as they traverse the Bionis in search of the Mechon who attacked their home. The latter acts follow several building revelations that transform the narrative into a meditation on agency and fate. I won’t spoil a single word of it here, but trust that it does an incredible job with both pacing your arrival at these epiphanies and rewarding your patience.
This is a narrative driven by Characterization. Shulk is surrounded by a cast consisting of fast friends, and most do a fantastic job of building an emotional core that the rest of the story can center on. Shulk is our main hero and the only one capable of wielding the Monado without sustaining damage to himself. Damage Tank Reyn is Shulk’s best friend and the most solid wingman of all time. Sharla is a rifle-slinging Medic from nearby Colony 6 who joins the adventure once her colony gets dragged into the conflict. Finally, Dunban, an Agile Swordsman and former wielder of the Monado rounds out the initial party members. You you will meet a few more as the adventure rolls on, but I will not spoil them as unlike the four I mentioned they are nowhere to be found in the opening moments.
Shulk in particular has an enormous amount of character growth. As the one wielding the Monado, he is able to use the sword to see the Future, allowing him to potentially alter events. As he hones this power and learns the price of vengeance, he gradually comes to let go of his anger and seek peace. Other characters are developed by both the main narrative as well as scenes called Heart to Hearts. These are unique conversations that can be unlocked between various party members after they have gained a certain amount of affinity for one another through fighting together, completing side quests, and giving gifts to one another. This ties gameplay progression to character development in a synergy that is present throughout the various other aspects of the game as well.
Garden of Arcane Delights
The other major driver of the narrative is World-Building. It is incredible just how many details that would be taken for granted in other games are given full explanations often tied into the overarching plot. Colony 9 sits on the lower leg of the Bionis, so it has Ether Cannons to destroy debris falling from areas higher up. What is Ether? Don’t worry; you’ll find out! Why is there a sky lighthouse in Eryth Sea? Stay tuned! These details are often the difference between a serviceable game world and a great one. More details are also revealed through the hundreds and hundreds of available side quests that are always available to our heroes. These range from mending fences between two friends to assisting an ambitious officer as she rises up the ranks of her colony.
These side stories are often interesting in their own right, but it’s the way they flesh the out the world and make it appear lived-in that really adds to the experience. As you complete these tasks you will also fill in the Affinity Charts for each City you visit. This system keeps track of the people you have met, the things you have done for them, and how it has impacted their lives. Oftentimes in talking to them the Monado will show you a set of futures, allowing you to complete some tasks multiple ways to change to outcome. These changes will then lead to future opportunities for work, with that resident’s relationship to the community being impacted by how you choose to resolve the issue. Completing these quests and seeing these charts grow and change becomes another compelling way of telling this world’s story.
By doing these quests you will ear gear which can be equipped to grant bonuses to stats and other affects such as HP Recovery, Topple Resistance, ect. Each of these pieces of Equipment also has a blurb for where it comes from or what it’s use is, further expanding the way Xenoblade feeds you it’s lore. As you traverse the field there are also various collectables that also do the same thing. These are often the objectives of sidequests, so make sure to collect them when you can as they have the dual purpose of providing detailing to an already lush world as well as being a vehicle for you to gain experience.
Taking place on the surface of the long-dead Bionis, the diversity and creativity on display in the game’s various regions is stunning. From a Tropical Forest on the Back of the Bionis to an incredible Marshland with bioluminescent trees at night, each region is wonder to explore. You will even discover an entire colony that you can rebuild and repopulate in one of the more ambitious side activities offered. The realms of these titans are also filled to the brim with secret locations that award experience points for discovery, as well as monsters and wildlife large and small to contend with. Out in the world with these gigantic and deadly monsters, Xenoblade incentivizes charting the vast expanse by rewarding alternative routes in the early game before gaining strength. Later on, you can come back and challenge these behemoths to see what nooks and crannies their presence hid. It’s a wonderful example of organic design.
Creative Destruction
Combat in Xenoblade Chronicles takes place with three party members drawn from a total of 7 Permanent members, all which have a variety of potential playstyles depending on how you setup their equipment, though each does have a primary function. The party leader is directly controlled and the computer controls the other two. AI is mostly serviceable, but multiplayer was a missed opportunity considering how well this would work with three human players synergizing their attacks. Fighting is fast and relies on chaining combinations of attacks alongside your companions. For example, Shulk can do a Stream Edge to Break an opponent’s guard, which will trigger Reyn to Use Wild Down to topple an enemy. Once you have completely filled our affinity meter, you can execute a Chain Attack, powerful combos that continue so long as you hit the prompts, enabling you to push damage into the stratosphere.
You will also use the Monado to change the fate of yourself and your compatriots. Every now and then the screen will grey out and Shulk will get a vision of an enemy prepping a devastating attack. You can then avoid this by spending Affinity to warn an AI controlled character of their impending doom, enabling you to take temporary direct control of their actions to avert the disaster. Conversely, you may also use your built up Monado energy to use one of several special attacks that do everything from blocking incoming special moves to increasing a companion’s ability to dodge. As the story play on you will unlock more abilities that are often introduced gradually along with new functionalities for your enemies, keeping battling fresh and giving yet another layer to the storytelling even through the combat.
As you level up you can also upgrade each character’s special abilities and attacks, allowing you to keep pace and opening up new avenues of play, This is also where sidequests and Heart-to-Hearts begin to layer in, as completing these awards you with experience and affinity coins which you will use to train up these vital combat abilities and bonuses. You will quickly fall into a rhythm of completing story segments before checking in with the communities you have visited to do side content, and as long as you are not rushing things, you should have a grind-free experience until near the very end of the game.
Divine Inspiration
As a complete remake, Xenoblade is nothing short of a Triumph. The vast landscapes have all been redone in HD, enhancing the already stunning and creative art direction and clarifying visuals and draw distances. Larger Monsters in particular can be seen from a shocking distance away. The first time I look down from a spot on the Bionis Leg and could see Colony 9 I had to just….. stop for a while. Animation is also well-done, with main characters all getting more fluid movements and better lip synching though some of the enemy creatures are still pretty canned. Characters have also undergone a redesign, taking on a more stylized and anime design. This will likely be up to each gamers personal taste, but I liked it.
Music has also been fully revamped, a change I was dreading, yet it turned out to exceed expectations. Xenoblade contains some of the most iconic songs in the genre, and all are treated with the dignity they deserve here. Favorite tracks such as Satori Marsh Night, Valak Mountain Night, Gaur Plains Day, and Engage the Enemy illicit feelings of struggling in an awe-inspiring world, and are made even better this time around with full vocals and orchestration. To this day I cannot envision the biomes of Xenoblade without these tracks immediately drifting into my consciousness. Voice acting maintains the original English localization, and both the English and Japanese Voice Tracks are as stellar as they have ever been. Sound effects are not noticeably changed aside from some subtle sharpening.
Despite it’s incredible pacing that lasts a vast majority of it’s runtime, Xenoblade Chronicles sadly hits a stutter in it’s last moments. While Definitive Edition helps alleviate one of the biggest weaknesses of the original by letting you level up to your cap or down at any time to best match the level of your enemies, the endgame still suffers from a spike to the tune of about 15 levels. I played for around 100 hours and did most of the side quest content, and despite this still hit this wall and had to begin grinding in order to tackle late-game side content and the final areas. It’s something to be aware of and keeps the game from being absolute perfection, and though it did annoy me I would still say it is worth it to see the adventure through
Seize the Day
At the time of this writing the game holds at full retail price, give or take a few dollars for a used copy. Despite this I have never had an easier recommendation, especially considering the series history of skyrocketing in scarcity and value as time goes on. I am left with my second trek through this world of promise and potential even more impressed than I was the first time around, and having it on the go in HD is a true game changer. In The Golden Bough, Fraizer points out the tradition of a Priest or King being killed and replaced by his predecessor, an allegory of how the destruction of one world can lead to the birth of another. A cycle of renewal that is acted out over the course of this payable Epic.
Looping back into Operation Rainfall, I cannot help but see Xenoblade Chronicles as a celebration of Human Agency; In both the legions of fans who Seized Destiny and bent a multinational corporation to their will despite being told they couldn't, and the game’s narrative itself, gamers get to create a new world. In doing so we saw the birth of one of the greatest RPG Series of the modern era, as well as a landscape free of region-locked games. To that I can only end on a thank you to those who Defied Fate and Seized their Destiny despite the odds. This one's for all the Rain Makers out there. Thank you!
-Mongunzoo