Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Preview: Technically superior, but not a game for everyone

On October 29th, 2024, Nintendo Switch gamers finally felt their prayers were being answered when Nintendo announced Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for Nintendo Switch on March 20th. Just before the console's end, gamers could boast of having the entire Xenoblade series concentrated on the same hardware. The original Wii U game is now 10 years past its release, and almost from the day the Switch was released, Nintendo has been begged to port it.

And it's no wonder, as this is one of the most highly rated RPGs of the 2010s, with a more adult tone and a more serious story than the rest of the series. The X in its name is also important, because it is not connected to the narrative of the rest of the Xenoblade series. So many will want to pick up this new release, either to play it for the first time or to revisit the classic on new hardware and attend to the new content at the end of the game. And although it's too early to talk about it, for the moment my impressions focus on the beginning of the game and its first 4 Chapters. And up to this point there is no difference in narrative or story. The arrival of the White Whale ship on Planet Mira escaping alien conflict and the destruction of Earth has not changed one iota since 2015, nor has the exploration of Primordia or establishing a base for the human colony.

It wasn't the best story then, and it's not the best story now, but it still packs enough punch to grease the wheels of extensive, complex and detailed combat and exploration systems in a vast open world teeming with life. Our character, a customised avatar, will have to build relationships with other characters, complete quests and discover the secrets of his new home. The Skells, those famous mechas on the game's cover, don't appear until much later, so what we do in these first few hours is get used to their combat system, which with the benefit of hindsight has been re-evaluated.

If you remember Final Fantasy's Limit system or if you recently played Sea of Stars, there's a little bit of each in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitve Edition. We'll have to intersperse automatic melee and ranged attacks with the activation of different special abilities or Arts that, when used at the right time, can generate a huge amount of damage. In addition, you have to keep an eye on your party mates, as using certain arts when called upon grants combat bonuses or recovers health. You will constantly receive new equipment, so you will have to upgrade your weapons and those of your companions on a regular basis. There's little more you can ask for to optimise the gameplay loop, but I did miss a button to speed up conversations or scenes, and another one to, for example, equip the best possible equipment automatically, as they have for example in Dragon Quest.

You'll have to forgive me for being so ambiguous in these first impressions, but Xenoblade Chronicles X is a gigantic game, which also develops at a very slow pace, little by little. It takes many hours for certain pieces of the story to fall into place, and many more for its most popular systems to come within reach. But what I can talk about is that on a technical level the port to Switch has been remarkable. Not so much in the visuals, although I do appreciate the sharpness of the backgrounds and the movements of the characters and scenes, but in the fluidity of movement, without "micro-skipping" or other limitations of taking a hardware to its peak of intensity. For now, that's as positive as I can be.

Don't get me wrong, Monolith Soft. is one of the best studios in the Japanese role-playing genre, even in the RPG genre worldwide. But maybe there are certain improvements that we could expect in a Definitve Edition that I don't see here. Xenoblade Chronicles X is a divisive title: some people love it, some people don't. If you knew it back in the day and loved it, you'll be able to relive its story and have "a little bit more". If it's your first time with this game and you have preconceived notions of Xenoblade Chronicles 3, you'd better change your mindset and assume that this is something new and different. Better or worse, you'll see.