Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition - Switch Pre-Review

Alex Harding -

One of the things I love most about the Nintendo Switch is its hybrid nature; I know that may sound like an obvious statement, but playing a game like Xenoblade Chronicles X tied to your couch (or 480p Wii U Game Pad within six feet of the console) was simply cumbersome at the best of times. The Nintendo Switch’s convenient portability breathes new life into 100+ hour behemoths like this one, which is why I’ve finally decided to complete the Xenoblade Chronicles series with Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition.

Going into this review, I’m very familiar with the first 40 hours, having gotten up to that exact point back in 2015 upon first release. Video games (and Monolith Soft, especially) have come a long way since then, and it’s going to be interesting giving this one another go.

Now, as this is a game that can easily hit the 200-hour playtime mark, I’ve decided to do a work-in-progress review at the 40-hour mark. For context, I have only just received my skell (the big Gundam-looking robot on the front cover), but I wanted to share my initial thoughts here while I continue to slog away at this behemoth.

The Good

Crash landing onto the planet Mira provides the challenges that one would expect: hostile indigens, scrounging for resources, venturing out into the unknown and fighting for survival. Xenoblade Chronicles X encapsulates this wonderfully, allowing the player to discover the wonders that were around every corner organically. The planet is massive and there’s nothing that exemplifies this more than running past a behemoth of an indigen, putting into perspective just how insignificant the human race is in the universe. But don’t get too comfortable beasties… I just got my skell license!

If you’re the type of player who truly loves to encapsulate yourself in a 150+ hour world, complete with lore, tasks and relationships, then Xenoblade Chronicles X will certainly have you covered. There is so much to do in this absolutely massive RPG, from the main story to taking on side quests, engaging with the locals and taking on affinity missions to get to know more about your 22 party members that can be easily swapped in and out. You’ll always have something to do and the pace is wonderful if you don’t rush headfirst into the story mission and take your time to indulge in all the game has to offer.

I had probably played about this much of Xenoblade Chronicles X back on Wii U before I put it down for one reason or another, and that was back in 2015. So when I began playing the Definitive Edition on my Switch last month, it all felt quite familiar. It was only for the purpose of this review that I looked up footage of the original that I realised how far along this game has come. The UI is so much cleaner, the character models are clean (albeit a little mannequin-esque) and it didn’t throw nearly as much info in your face at once (it still does, just not as much). Couple this with your reserve party members who aren’t in your active party still receiving experience points, meaning you don’t need to spend literally dozens of hours grinding, and it makes for a far more enjoyable and streamlined title. Now I just want to see how much value the new post-game content adds… More to come in my full review later.

TL;DR

  • Mira is HUGE!
  • So much to do
  • Subtle yet satisfying quality of life upgrades

The Bad

I recently praised Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition on just how much content the game packs, but this can also be its downfall. The series is known for featuring an abundance of content, and while the affinity missions help to provide personality and context to the world, I’d estimate approximately half of its content is riddled with fetch quests and the dreaded “kill 5 [monsters]” quests. Many of these fetch quests can be optional, but it puts a dampener on it and can grind the momentum to a halt quickly. It turns an expansive world into a slow and repetitive grind that, quite frankly, I just don’t have the time for anymore.

This one is a personal qualm, but I’m very much a learn-by-doing type of player. The first five hours will bombard you with dozens of text boxes explaining systems that feel needlessly complicated, and if you’re anything like me, a lot of it won’t stick, resulting in you aimlessly wandering around to perform a task that should be far less complicated. I originally wasn’t going to add this, as after you get through the first slog, the long, manual-like tutorials tend to slow down, but as I just received my skell and was forced to sift through so many more text boxes when all I wanted to do was to finally go out and play with my new shiny toy, it all just felt very anticlimactic.

While some of the characters have their quirky personalities and are expanded on well during affinity missions, many do turn out to be quite bland and one-dimensional (at least, so far). Lin’s jokes about Tatsu looking like a potato (or an onion, or a turnip) and be used as an ingredient in her next dish, followed by Tatsu’s exaggerated shock reactions every single time was funny at first, but it gets old very quickly, resulting in nothing more than sharp exhales through the nostrils a mere 15 hours in.

TL;DR

  • So much to do
  • Information overload
  • Repetitive, one-dimensional characters

Final Score: (TBD)

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is such a wonderful swansong for what may well become the very best-selling console of all time. It reaffirmed just how convenient the Switch’s design is in its hybrid nature, highlighting aspects like portability and being able to quickly pop your console into sleep mode and pick it back up whenever and wherever; something we likely take for granted today.

The developers at Monolith Soft have come such a long way since they first released Xenoblade Chronicles X on Wii U 10 years ago, and it shows. Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and both their respective story-based DLCs show that they’ve certainly put a lot of time and thought into how they explain mechanics, themes and UI elements, whilst being able to learn from the very best over at Nintendo.

Be sure to stick around for my full review of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, coming (hopefully) in just a few short weeks.

Thank you for checking out our Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Switch review, thank you to Nintendo Australia for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support: