Platform: Nintendo Switch
Price: $59.99
Available: Now
I’m back after a long break. Writer’s block be damned. Let’s just dive in!
STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF A TITAN
Xenoblade Chronicles is the fourth game in the six game Xeno series. The timeline can be argued upon, but Xenoblade fits within the greater narrative arc.
Our hero Shulk starts on his journey with humble aspirations. A mechanic and junk dealer by trade, his best pals Reyn and Fiora come into direct contact with the mysterious sword, The Monado. After a myriad of cutscenes, The Monado awakens and chooses Shulk as its wielder.
Soon enough, the bloodthirsty robot Mechonis(the main antagonists of the game) appear at Colony 9; the hometown of our heroes. Facing stiff opposition from their mechanical foes, our heroes are thrust into an epic adventure like never before!
(I decided to keep this section short for fear of spoilers)
WORLD OPEN
Xenoblade Chronicles is different than your typical Japanese RPG in that the game world is gargantuan. There are many hidden areas and secret to uncover, pillage and indulge in. From grassy forests and swamps to inter dimensional rifts, this game is not lacking in diversity. The true brilliance of the world is manifest in two different ways; world building and structure.
Players will spend the majority of the time on one of two titans(God-like creatures made to destroy each other). The scale of which is only rivaled by an Elder Scrolls or Grand Theft Auto.
Behind the allure of it’s anime inspired visuals(which have received a huge upgrade from it’s 2011 Nintendo Wii release), Xenoblade’s world is savagely hostile. Reckless players can expect many a beating from low level monsters and super-bosses. Normally, super-bosses are tucked away in late-game dungeons, but in Xenoblade? Nope! The developers saw it fit to mix them in with the cannon fodder. Unique in it’s frustration, it managed to keep me on my toes.
One of my minor gripes comes from the way the side-quests in the game are handled. There are too many of them! Not only are they of the typical fetch quest variety, several of them are timed. In the game’s defense, there are high quality quests, but you have to manually filter through the trash ones. I wouldn’t blame anybody for skipping side-quests entirely; though they’re necessary for the full Xenoblade experience.
VICTOR SPOILED
Xenoblade Chronicles(along with it’s many successors) uses a unique battle system. I like to call it an Action RPG-MMO hybrid. Your chosen character auto attacks normally, and perusing the battle palette(pictured above) gives you access to special moves called arts. These arts serve many purposes in combat; debuffing enemies, inflicting status changes, buffing, healing spells, stunning and paralyzing enemies and so forth. One of the unique features of combat is the your arts do more or less damage depending on where you attack from. An art the does mediocre damage from the front might do exceptional damage from the back or side. Shulk in particular uses Monado Arts, which bestow unique effects in combat. At the early start of the game, you gain access to Chain Attacks. The whole party attacks when the party gauge is full. The challenge here though is that the party gauge is utilized for chain attacks and to revive incapacitated team members. Surely, it was a tactical decision made by the developers.
GOLDEN BREATH FROM THE MOUTH OF THE DIVINE
I want to spend a little time talking about the soundtrack. It’s heavenly. At times it’s peaceful. Sometimes it’s frantic and hostile. I cannot express it’s dynamic quality in greater detail. I point all curious souls to YouTube. Seriously, check it out!
FINAL THOUGHTS
I’m usually skeptical of remakes/remasters, but this one knocked it out of the park. I haven’t been able to play the Future Connected additional content due to other obligations, but I will soon! Let me know what you think of this review!
Purveyors Of Pixels 