Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition Preview

When people remember the Nintendo Wii, more often than not it tends to end up being glassy-eyed memories of fake bowling with their Nan… and launching Wiimotes through their brand new flatscreen TV. Nintendo didn’t just sell 100 million Wii’s on the strength of novelty games and dangerous controller flinging though, it also played host to some of the generation’s best games. At the head of that pack for RPG lovers, was Xenoblade Chronicles.

Xenoblade Chronicles was the work of Tetsuya Takahashi, a visionary Japanese developer who’d built the sci-fi Xeno series of games. This started under the watchful eyes of Square, before creating his own company, Monolith Soft, and partnering with Bandai Namco, before inking a deal to become a subsidiary of the mighty plumber producing Nintendo.

There’s multiple reasons why Xenoblade Chronicles remains revered as one of the greatest RPGs of all time, from its stunning and evocative setting, to its beautifully orchestrated soundtrack, through to its sweeping storyline that boasts some of the highest highs and lowest lows of any digitally-driven narrative.

Telling the tale of young hero Shulk – who many will know these days thanks to his Smash Bros. stardom – and the mystical Monado blade, the epic tale sprawls across 70+ hours of some of the finest RPG action you’ll find. Like Final Fantasy XII, it drew on the burgeoning MMO movement for inspiration, resulting in a combat system that feels as fresh today as it did ten years ago.

For all that Xenoblade Chronicles remains an out and out classic, the humble internals of the Nintendo Wii meant that it never quite managed to hit the heights of other games of the era. The colours always looked a little washed out, the facial expressions like someone’s hastily put together 6th grade sewing project, and the games visuals as a whole remain a small blemish on the game’s legacy. That’s all set to change with the arrival of Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition.

Heading to the fabulous Nintendo Switch – seriously, it’s great how you can take this guy anywhere – Nintendo and Monolith Soft have set to polishing the game’s visuals up to a 1080p shine, and they look amazing. There were times in the original game where you occasionally had to imagine how spectacular it all looked without running through the haze of the AV cable, but those moments have been banished, bringing the game firmly into 2020.

Alongside the visual bump, there’s also a major addition to the game in the form of an extra Story Mode, called Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected. For returning fans, many of whom might be coming to the game for at least the third or fourth time, it’s a hugely impactful new element, and one that will undoubtedly be given rapturous attention when the game releases later this month.

Set after the main game, this isn’t a mode to dive into from the off, particularly as a newcomer, but fans will be glad to know you can jump into it at any point. If you know the original story so well you could recite it in your sleep – which, at times, I think I can – you will be able to come straight in and hop into Future Connected. It has a separate save file and is effectively a separate entity. You can also, like I did, play through some of the main game, and then hop across. Monolith Soft and Nintendo have crafted this game remaster with fans in mind.

One year after the events of Xenoblade Chronicles, the opening to Future Connected sees Shulk and Melia set out on the Junks airship, before being shot down by a mysterious black beam that forces them to crash land upon the Bionis’ shoulder. Joining them on the adventure are a pair of Nopon – Kino and Nene – who are the children of Xenoblade Chronicles playable character Riki.

Any new addition to the Xenoblade Chronicles storyline is utterly fantastic, and to have it here, with these glorious updated visuals, is going to be a treat that fans of the original should leap upon. For everybody else, it looks to extend the story of one of the greatest RPGs of all time, which is about as good as these kind of things get.

Some games have slapped that Definitive Edition moniker on hastily upscaled graphics, and snickered as fans have put down their hard-earned money for the exact same experience. With Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Monolith Soft is doing things right, and there’s every chance that, now that Animal Crossing fever is starting to recede, Xenoblade Chronicles could be set to be many Switch owner’s new obsession.