Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (Switch) review "A robot killed grandma!"

I sometimes ask myself: “Did I actually enjoy the game I just played or were my expectations merely met?” That's part of the reason I drag my feet when playing new titles. I want to experience them when the hype has waned and I can view it without the pressures of anticipation bearing down on me. Going into a new adventure as unwitting as possible has served me well because even decades-old titles find ways to surprise me.

I'd like to think it wasn't merely my expectations that told me Xenoblade Chronicles was a fantastic RPG. Having fired up its Definitive Edition and watched the opening cutscenes, experienced “heart-to-heart segments” (special moments between party members that reveal the nature of their relationship while adding depth and dimension to those involved), and appreciated how its characters met specific archetypes while deviating ever so slightly from them, I'd say the main campaign roared to a terrific start.

However, what never ceased to impress me and keep me playing was the game's sense of world building. You see, you don't merely explore a fantastical land, but one that's been built on the bodies of massive colossi called the Bionis and the Mechonis. And no moment solidified my adoration of Xenoblade's universe more than entering a marsh early in the proceedings. Honestly, I rolled my eyes at first. RPGs are notorious for featuring dreary, mucky, frustrating swamp areas that are difficult to navigate and devoid of style. In broad daylight, this game's bog region didn't leave much of an impression. However, when the sun dipped and night began, all of that changed. The daytime's desperate music transitioned to a track that smacked of winter holidays and light festivals. Choir voices sang sweetly as my surroundings lit up. Ether, a natural magical force, ignited the trees and swirled brightly through the airborne gases. The overall effect was beyond gorgeous—it defied the expectation that my watery trudge would prove to be a standard, slow-paced wet mess. But more than that, even on its own, even if I had expected a dazzling and moving production, the effect was astounding.



Xenoblade features a group of seven recruitable characters who remain your average Japanese roleplaying fare while filling them out with finer details. Its protagonist, Shulk, is your typical spunky hero. However, the nature of his travels doesn't initially involving “making the world a better place.” No, he's enraged that his home was attacked and that lives were lost to an antagonistic force of robots called “Mechon.” Shulk doesn't fist aim to stomp evil with the power of friendship like so many JRPG protagonists do; he wants to punish the Mechon for their transgression and ensure they never do it again. Hatred and revenge aren't typical motivators for do-gooders that star in titles like this, so it was refreshing to see Shulk's mission start out this way.

Even his best mate, Reyn, isn't your everyday tank character: he's big and sometimes air-headed, but surprisingly insightful and loyal all the same. He often comes off as expectantly impulsive, but also offers morsels of cleverness. You also enlist a rifle-toting woman named Sharla. Can you guess her class based on her weapon? No, not sniper or rogue or ranger. She's a healer. She heals people. With her gun.

She shoots people with bullets that heal them. God bless this game.

This outing loads you up with boatloads of tasks to complete. Every area you enter offers an extensive map packed with nooks, crannies, hideaways, goodies, and “unique monsters” to topple. And most of those examples are only accessible during your primary visit to a region. Some maps feature places you won't be able to fully explore until later on, when your characters have packed on levels. Enemy stats spike in these areas, sometimes tipping them upward from measly level-five woodland creatures to massive level-fifty-something beasts. Obviously, you're not going to survive an encounter with those things when you're scraping level eight, so locales like these give you something to check out later on.



But wait, there's more! Everywhere you turn, you find blue dots all over the ground that serve as gifts. You can either trade them with various citizens to gain helpful items or exchange them between party members to deepen their friendships. In doing so, you gain access to addition Heart-to-Hearts. Plus, good friends can share each other's passive skills, which you learn as you acquire skill points. Believe me when I say the Heart-to-Hearts alone are worth accessing, especially since they reinforce the story's sense of camaraderie between allies and grant further depth to the tale.

Oh, that's not all. Similar to Fallout's town reputations, you increase your entourage's affinity with different cities by completing side quests and chatting with townsfolk, thereby accessing further jobs to take up. Side quests represent a big chunk of the overall experience because they provide a solid means to grind for levels without slaying beasts for hours.

Granted, the combat system on offer not only snaps along smoothly, but it's simple and easy to pick up. If you've played BioWare products or Final Fantasy XII, you kind of know what to expect here. Your AI-driven party acts in real time, including your leader. Occasionally, you bark commands at the combatant you operate, allowing them to belt out powerful techniques called “arts,” which you can upgrade throughout your journey.



Definitive Edition seems to have thought of every instance in which you might become burned out or bummed out and tried to work out a solution. It's like the devs knew that experiencing a lengthy adventure filled with all kinds of melodrama and glimpses of wholesome camaraderie would only leave you with that “finished a good novel” sense of emptiness, and thus cooked up an epilogue campaign entitled Future Connected. Set after the events of the main plot, this one follows Shulk and his friend Melia as they search for her ancestral home, Alacmoth. Good news: they find it. Bad news: it's inhabited by a mysterious being called the Fog King.

And this is where the Definitive package takes its only dive. Think back to epic RPGs that had disappointing expansion campaigns. Dragon Age: Origins springs to mind... Honestly, I'd say that's an apt comparison: Future Connected is analogous to Origins – Awakening. How do you craft a solid, short follow-up to a long, stellar story? In most cases, you don't...

Connected's story came across as contrived, whipped up simply to give Shulk and Melia something dangerous to do when they should have nothing to worry about. Shulk barely justifies his own existence here, as he's only present to swing his sword. He could have been dropped from the story and it wouldn't have made a difference, which is the last thing you want to say about a major character. On top of that, the game doesn't give you the option to import the party you just spent dozens of hours building up. Shulk and Melia pick up from level sixty, surrounded by adversaries just as strong as they are. How the hell did they regress from being able to stand toe-to-toe with god-like monsters to struggling to defeat stock enemies? It makes no sense...



About the only positive on display, other than new recruits Nene and Kino proving to be entertaining additions to your group, is the game adding a bit more depth to a supporting character from the previous campaign. That's really it. Even the main antagonist here is nothing to have a stroke over, as it's a one-dimensional entity with an unclear motive. Of course, I'm saying this having not played any further Xenoblade entries, so maybe they'll prove me wrong...

Just the same, Connected accomplishes little more than wasting time and delaying the inevitable: you have to let eventually. Or hell, maybe that was the expansion's point. After all, Melia does communicate that message during a key story event.

However, Connected's status as mere filler material does little to hamper the overall package. If the worst thing I can say about this game is that it features an optional, mediocre epilogue that lasts roughly ten hours and is easily skippable, then I'd say it's doing at least fine. Ultimately, it doesn't detract from the magnificence on display in Xenoblade Chronicles, nor diminish its standing as yet another RPG that's not only great because it met my expectations. It's just an all around wonderful experience.

Staff review by Joseph Shaffer (June 19, 2023) Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III.