Welcome to EXPlay, (Explain & Play) the review series where we care not for scores but tell it how it is when it comes to every game we get our hands on, whilst also taking the time to include some lengthy gameplay, to give you the reader, the chance to shape your own impressions and views whilst watching and reading. In this installment, we’re covering Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition by developer Monolithsoft.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition: (The Explanation)
Since the release of the Nintendo Switch, it has had many brilliant Wii U games ported over to it like Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and many more. One such game that was highly requested by fans was, of course, Xenoblade Chronicles X. After years of waiting, we had all but given up that it would be coming to Switch, even after the success of multiple entries of the Xenoblade Chronicles series has seen on the console. At long last though, MonolithSoft and Nintendo have finally answered the fans and now Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is now available for Nintendo Switch.
Xenoblade Chronicles X was an expansive RPG that had released on the Wii U nearly a decade ago and pushed the hardware to its limits. It was a spin-off game in the Xenoblade Chronicles series that didn’t have any real connection to the main series and was set in a completely different universe. That said, there have been some loose connections by means of additional content known as the Land of Challenges in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 that brought Elma from Xenoblade Chronicles X, as well as Shulk and Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles. This has so far been the only tie-in to all three universes but perhaps with the new story content in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, we may just get the deeper connection Xenoblade fans have long been wanting.
Speaking of story, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition takes place in the distant future of 2054. Earth is caught in the crossfire between two warring alien species and humanity is forced to flee the dying planet aboard arks built for interstellar travel. Out of the hundreds of arks that were constructed, very few managed to escape, with one of them being the White Whale. After two years of drifting through space, the White Whale is attacked and crash lands on the planet Mira. During the crash, the Lifehold containing what is left of humanity is separated from the ship, causing Lifepods to be scattered all over the planet of Mira. The player character is one of the colonists from the White Whale, who is awoken from suspended animation by Elma, a member of an organization called BLADE who needs your help recovering the stranded colonists and protecting the colony of New Los Angeles.
In terms of gameplay, it is not too disimilar to that of other entries in the Xenoblade Chronicles series. There is an arching storyline that players can stick to but you will mostly find yourself engaging in survey missions and side quests that can net you rewards to strengthen your team. Exploration is the biggest draw with a huge immersive world to traverse that is larger than that of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and even those from other Xenoblade games. There are large magnificent beasts to take on in combat and plenty of smaller enemies as well to keep you occupied and on your toes as you conduct your survey missions and other quests.
Combat is conducted in real-time and will have you attack enemies automatically should you engage them or if they catch you off-guard. You can attack with an assortment of weapons, depending on what you have equipped and have special abilities called Arts that can do great damage and may affect the condition of enemies depending on their personal resistances and where you orientated yourself with the enemy when you used the Art.
Arts have cooldowns so you can’t constantly spam them to deal heavy damage. You can however, coordinate your attacks with Arts to maximise their effects and get the most out of them. By doing so successfully, you will be able to engage the overdrive function to really deal the hurt on your enemies As cooldown timers are shortened so you can use multiple arts over and over again until the overdrive timer runs out.
Do take into account the levels of your team members and that of the enemies you are fighting. Taking on higher level enemies will help you earn more experience but they can be much tougher to fight. Lower level enemies on the other hand, will be much easier to fight but won’t grant you as much experience.
Upon defeating enemies, you can earn materials and gear that can help make you stronger. You can equip any gear you find via one of two ways. Ground Gear allows you to choose and equip gear based on their stats. Fashion Gear, on the other hand, will merely alter your appearance, much like Layered Armor does in Monster Hunter games. Any gear you collect gets added to your fashion gear collection as well so you never have to worry about your gear not matching up and looking a bit of a mess. As for materials, these can be used to upgrade gear to improve the effectiveness of their perks like evasion up, Auto-attack up, etc.
Your gear is not the only thing that can be upgraded though. Your Arts and Skills can also be upgraded, as can your class. You can use BP which you can earn through fighting enemies and levelling up and apply them to make your arts and skills as you see fit. When it comes to Class, you will find that your character is restricted to certain weapons. That is until you max out their class ranking so you can then upgrade or swap to a different class. The starting Class is Drifter, but once you max it out, you will be able to choose from a variety of other classes that each have their own style of weapons, Arts, and Skills, that can change up how you combat enemies in the field.
As you begin the game, you will be rather limited to how many fighters you can have on our team. You start off with just you and Elma, but as you progress and complete missions for certain characters, you can recruit them to fight alongside you. You can only have a maximum of four characters in your active party but you will be able to cycle through them at anytime from the Active Members menu. This is a big QoL feature that was added to the Definitive Edition that was not included in the Wii U version. Then, you hadf to manually seek out the character you wanted who could be lurking anywhere around New Los Angeles.
One of the best things that I like about Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, is the Online Multiplayer. There are two different types of online modes; one that allow up to 32 players to undertake missions together passively by hunting x amount of specific creatures within a certain time. Then there is the option for four players to squad up actively and take on missions together to bring down powerful monsters. When you are connected to the server, you can find other players’ avatars roaming around the world of Mira and can recruit them to join your party for an hour, so even when you can’t play with your friends online, they can still be with you in spirit.
Now, I haven’t mentioned the giant Skell in the room so far, so I think I should address it now. What really sets Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition apart from the other Xenoblade games is that you can eventually own and use powerful mechs called Skells. Aside from making traversal of Mira that much easier, and give you access to locations, you couldn’t reach before by foot, they are very handy for taking on large and poweful monsters. You won’t be running around in mechs anytime soon, however, as you have to play through a good portion of the game’s main story in order to acquire a Skell License. Once, you do though, oh are things about to get that much more interesting.
I could go into detail but that would be spoil the fun and I think it is best that you experience them for yourselves. I will just add that thess too can also be upgraded and customized to suit your liking. That said though, Skells are not invulnerable, and also require resources to function so even when you do have access to your very own Skell, you may need to use it in moderation or at the very least, have necessary reserves to keep it going.
I really could keep going and highlight more features and mechanics but the review would just go on forever. I have barely touched upon the new story content that awaits players upon beating the main story, or the addition of the new Hero and Skell that players can acquire, not to mention the multitude of side quests, heart-to-hearts, Affinity Missions, FrontierNav and how using it can net you new resources, the ability to invest in companies to unlock more gear and weapons. We are just on the tip of the iceberg but alas, I will have to leave the rest for you to find out for yourselves.
Jumping back into Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition has really showed me what I had missed out on when it originally came to Wii U. I did previously own the game and I picked it up well into the end of the Wii U’s life cycle. I had played a good 20 hours or so but when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, came onto the scene, I had to say goodbye to Mira and hadn’t picked it up since. Xenoblade Chronicles 2Â helped rekindle my enjoyment for the Xenoblade Chronicles series and I am so glad to have been able to revisit Mira once again and with an all-new appreciation to boot that has allowed me to enjoy Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition that much more.
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is truly the pinnacle of Sci-Fi RPGs that will have players invest thousands of hours and never get bored. It is a game you can make your own with its cast of colorful characters, the magnitude of side quests and activities to keep you engaged, and a truly vast world to explore that is full of so many different species of indigenous creatures that call Mira home. To wrap up, too many people slept on this game when it came to Wii U and that was a huge mistake as they missed out on just how great this game was. Now that it is on Nintendo Switch, I cannot emphasise enough that Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is the best Sci-Fi RPG I have ever played and you should definitely give it a try!
Game Specifications:
Developer: Monolithsoft
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch (eShop)
Category: Role-Playing, Multiplayer
No. of Players: 1 player (Single System) Up t0 32 Players (Online)
Release Date: March 20, 2025 (EU & NA)
Price: $59.99
File Size: 13.5 GB
Nintendo.com Listing
