Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade Chronicles "What's important isn't whether you can see the future or not. It's the will to make a choice, and the strength to seize your own destiny! Our time has come! Our destiny is our own!" — Shulk Protagonist(s): Shulk Melia Antiqua (Future Connected) Genre(s): Action role-playing Rating(s): T Platform(s): Wii New Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch Release: Wii JP: June 10, 2010 EU: August 19, 2011 AU: September 1, 2011 NA: April 2, 2012 New Nintendo 3DS: WW: April 2, 2015 NA: April 10_ 2015 Nintendo Switch (Definitive Edition): WW: May 29, 2020 Developer(s): Monolith Soft Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Successor: Xenoblade Chronicles X (by release date) Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (chronologically)

Xenoblade Chronicles is an open-world action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It was originally released on the Wii and later ported to the New Nintendo 3DS, while a remastered version known as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition was released for the Nintendo Switch. The Definitive Edition also includes a sequel story known as Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected.

Why It's Really Felling It

1. Well-written, original story with a unique premise: two life forms (Homs and Machina) live atop two colossal titanic life forms (the Bionis and Mechonis) and they are constantly at war with each other, which is a creative concept in and of itself and allows for some creative level design.
2. Amazing graphics for a 2011 Wii game standards, which improve in the Definitive Edition to match the sequels' art styles and adding a few cosmetic touches here and there, such as replacing the key on Alvis's necklace with a red Aegis crystal (which is the same as the one his true form, Ontos, has).
3. Many memorable, well-written and awesome characters, including:
   • Shulk is an amazing main protagonist, being he is the chosen wielder of the Monado, and cares deeply for his friends. Even when he is shot by Dickson so the latter can revive his master, Zanza (who resides within Shulk), he still finds a way to wield a new Monado and fell Zanza.
   • Fiora, Shulk's love interest, subverts the typical "damsel-in-distress" type character by being mind-controlled by Mumkhar/Metal Face for the first third of the game after being kidnapped by him, and when she joins she still loves and cares for her boyfriend and big brother.
   • Reyn is Shulk's best friend and a hilarious comic relief character who belts out a lot of funny one-liners.
   • Dunban, Fiora's older brother and the previous wielder of the Monado, is a great mentor for Shulk
   • Melia Antiqua is the crown princess of Alcamoth who is always willing to protect the High Entia (whom she is a part of) and does all in her power to protect the city in Future Connected, which she is the protagonist of.
   • Riki, the Chosen Warrior of the Nopon, is a mascot-type character who has several cute and funny moments.
   • Alvis, who is retroactively revealed to be Ontos, is the wise spirit of the True Monado who guides Shulk down the right path once he dies.
   • Zanza is a deep main antagonist: he is one-half of the Architect, Klaus, who resides in Shulk's body for a majority of the game, and is the master of the Bionis this is revealed once he leaves Shulk's body.
4. Beautiful and vast environments to explore, including Gaur Plain (Bionis' Leg, which resembles a grassland and has an awesome music track), Tephra Cave (which resembles a water cave and has an Ether Mine), the Eryth Sea (Bionis' Head, which has several pools of water and portals leading up to Alcamoth), Valak Mountain (also Bionis' Head, which resembles snowy mountains), Prison Island (a shadowy place where the boss against Dickson takes place), etc.
   • Even better, you can explore the Bionis and Mechonis at your leisure with no barriers (the latter, however, gets destroyed later on).
5. A huge range of sidequests that will give you G, experience points and increase your Affinity with each Bionis/Mechonis location.
6. Fun gameplay, with each character having advantages and disadvantages in battle, as well as several Arts and one Talent Art each, which can be unlocked by leveling up and/or completing some sidequests.
   • When the Chain Attack/Union Strike gauge fills up, you are able to unleash one of these techniques (the former in XC1 and the latter in XC: FC) that damages opponents based on the Arts and character Affinites/color of the squad used.
7. The Monado is a very useful weapon, as it allows Shulk to activate Visions to see into the future and warn his allies of possible deadly strikes.
   • It also allows normal weapons to damage Mechons via the Enchant Monado Art.
8. While you can only have three active at a time, you are able to play as all seven major characters in the game, or four in Future Connected.
9. Good acting in both Japanese and English, particularly from Adam Howden (Shulk/Zanza), Carina Reeves (Fiora), Rufus Jones (Dunban), Jenna Coleman (Melia), Jay Taylor (Reyn) and Blake Ritson (Alvis/Ontos).
10. Excellent soundtrack composed by a variety of musical artists, with each area having a unique theme.
11. The Affinity system between characters and locations unlocks extra conversations when upgraded.
    • When Character Affinities are high enough, they can also access Heart-to-Hearts, which are bonus scenes between two characters.

Bad Qualities

1. The Affinity system, while creative, requires a TON of grinding to reach the highest level. It's especially based when you gain a new character and have to do a lot of battles with them for a long time to raise their Affinity with other characters. Luckily, it isn't necessary to complete the game.
2. The 3DS port is only playable on New 3DS systems, as only they have the extra power and controls to play the game.
3. Some unlikable characters, such as Dickson and Lorithia.
4. Fiora is neither seen nor mentioned at all in Future Connected, despite the fact that Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed reveals that she married Shulk and they had a son named Nikol.

Reception

Xenoblade Chronicles has received critical acclaim, with praise directed at its story, characters, themes, combat, music, acting and scale, earning perfect scores from Digital Spy, Joystiq, GamePro and RPGamer, and near-perfect scores from most other gaming websites and magazines.

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