Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch 2 Edition Review – The ultimate form of this classic JRPG

If there was one game that really needed a Switch 2 version, it was Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The original game found itself in an odd position, both as a huge tonal shift from the first Xenoblade Chronicles game, and with the technical hurdles and challenges of being an early game for the Nintendo Switch. Despite that, it is undoubtedly an RPG classic, with some exceptional storytelling and, arguably, the most likeable set of characters in the series. Now the capabilities of the Switch 2 are able to drag it out of the low res mire that it was stuck in since 2017.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is set in Alrest, with central character Rex a lowly scavenger who gets swept up in a series of dramas that will ultimately affect the entire world. The central crux of this world are the living Blades, weaponry that takes the form of a sentient being or creature, and which are then linked to their owner, known as a Driver. Rex finds himself linked to Pyra, a Blade of immense power, who everyone in Alrest is after.

It’s a huge adventure, its narrative tackling existential themes and the nature of life, with a payoff that feels as important and moving as the end of Battlestar Galactica. If you’re the kind of person who likes to wander about, explore every nook and cranny and do a bunch of side quests, there’s well over 100 hours of content here to immerse yourself in. Besides that, the British-centric voice cast gives the game a unique tone, setting it apart from many other mainline JRPGs like Final Fantasy. It really does feel very much like its own thing, even set within the wider Xenoblade universe.

There’s a massive amount to tinker with in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and that’s one of the game’s greatest strengths. First up are the blades. Besides the narratively required choices, there’s a vast number to unlock, including a batch of specially created ones from some of Japan’s most famous artists.

From there, you need to choose loadouts, level up abilities, unlock affinities, and feed your characters their favourite food, all in the name of making the big attack numbers become even bigger attack numbers. Occasionally, you might get the feeling that the game is messing with you, such as with the largely forgotten secondary latent talents that you need to have cultivated to make progress, but you’re able to forgive those foibles when everything else is so moreish and likeable.

And so it comes to Switch 2. It’s fair to say that the original Switch creaked and groaned its way through various parts of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but the immediate good news is that most of the performance and visual issues have been banished in this new update. Docked is still an improvement over handheld, with an upscaled 4K image that looks pretty darn crisp, but the gulf is now much smaller, and where it used to be a fuzz-fest when playing portably, it’s now just a bit softer. Probably still a little too soft and you can tell that it’s upscaling doing a lot of the heavy lifting instead of something approaching native resolutions, but it is noticeably better over both standard backward compatibility and the boosted mode. The central characters in particular have really benefitted from the upscale, and the art direction shines just that bit brighter than before. The only oddity is that, with the low base resolution meaning that noses and mouths are obscured, they’re also absent from the upscaled game.

Performance is similarly very good, with a few noticeable dips from the newly implemented 60fps cap. The township of Torigoth was a real rough spot in the original version, and returning fans will delight in how much smoother and better-looking this important landmark is, even if you can still make it judder and jump. Just a little bit. The enhanced frame rate really does make exploration and combat feel that much more fluid and immediate, and while I don’t remember having too much of a problem my first time through, this is a clear and definitive upgrade.

The Switch 2 upgrade brings in some new additions too. Firstly, there’s a brand-new Blade in the shape of MOMO. If you’ve reached the point in the game where Tora and Poppi join your party, you can also receive MOMO, making her one of the earliest rare Blades you can access. She’s a pretty cool-looking character, with an offensive yo-yoing Bitball called Bunnie, a focus on healing, and she can also change stance to alter her moveset.

Besides that, there’s the new Merc Assault mode, unlocked with a short visit to the Mercenary HQ in Garfont, where it turns out Vandham had always meant to tell you about living the life of a Merc. These missions let you take direct control of your Blades as you slash your way through a bunch of enemies, with chaotic hack-and-slash battles against multiple waves the order of the day. It’s a fun enough distraction, with each victory earning you some extra items, or the new outfits for Pyra and Mythra if it’s your first time out.

You can’t talk about Xenoblade Chronicles 2, without mentioning its DLC, Torna – The Golden Country. There’s an argument that says this is the best expansion ever made, and Nintendo clearly felt the same way, as it received its own boxed release when it originally launched in addition to featuring in the expansion pass. As a prequel, it expands on the history of Alrest’s conflicts, and also gives you a deeper understanding of Jin, through the lens of his relationship with his Driver, Lora.

Torna’s visual scrub-up is actually free to physical owners, or it’s included with your Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch 2 upgrade, which is something of a pleasant surprise when we’re used to game companies pinching all the money from our digital wallets. The only negative I can think of is that you’re going to need to dedicate yourself to Xenoblade for many, many weeks to get through both of these titles. Fortunately, the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 upgrade doesn’t arrive until December, so you’ve got a bit of time to do it.