Way back in 1998, the original PlayStation was graced with the first Xenogears game and it was a masterful piece of gaming. Nearly twenty years later, we now have the new Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Nintendo Switch and it is genuinely brilliant.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is set within the world of Alrest. A realm made up of a huge cloud sea filled with beasts called Titans that humanity lives on top of. At the center of Alrest is the World Tree and at its summit, the land of Elysium.
The game is mostly centered around Rex and he starts off initially as a cloud sea salvager but ends up as a Driver of a Blade called Pyra. Blades are weaponized lifeforms that are linked to their Drivers and you encounter many of them across the game, they also obviously tie into the combat system but I will get onto that in a moment.
Unfortunately, some have already criticized the visual depiction of these Blades in the game but to be honest, this is par for the course in anime and manga. So I had no issues with them at all.
While Xenoblade Chronicles X on the Wii U was meant more as a spiritual successor to the original Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is, in fact, a direct sequel to the first game but I obviously won’t spoil how.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 also takes the same anime-inspired visuals and storytelling used in prior Xeno games and elevates that quite noticeably. This is because visually and aurally the game is masterfully done. The English dub is also surprisingly decent but there is a free Japanese language pack DLC if you are interested. Personally, I prefer the original Japanese dialogue but your mileage may vary on that.
However, there is one caveat to all this sumptuous production quality. While the game looks and sounds great in docked mode, when your play Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in portable mode it does take a very noticeable hit in performance.
This was something I thought would be a widespread issue with Switch games at launch but thus far it seems this overt performance discrepancy has been mercifully more limited.
That said, playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 in portable mode does do the game itself a disservice and to ignore that would be disingenuous on my part. Admittedly, the game is still eminently playable, so there aren’t any game breaking functionality issues caused by this schism in performance but it is something you will notice in a visual sense when you play the game.
As for the game itself, it is fundamentally an action role-playing game of a sort and is very well done. Unlike traditional turn-based strategy type encounters, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 opts for a more open-ended albeit passively tactical approach.
In that, while the game is not a direct input to action type of control, as in The Legend of Zelda, you start attacks on an enemy and these continue on their own. With each attack, you also fill up extra attacks. Once filled you can initiate each extra attack, which in turn fills up a more powerful special attack. Each layer of these attacks adds more potency to what you can do and on top of that, you can switch between Blades to open up even more combat variety and options.
The result of all this is that the combat system feels closer to an MMO and forces you to be more aware of your surroundings. This is because other enemies can join the fight depending on your location, so you often need to lure individual enemies away from a pack before engaging them.
Despite the accessible and layered approach to combat and the upbeat anime visuals, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is not an easy game and you will die a lot. Thankfully, this isn’t too much of a penalty, as you normally respawn close to where you met your demise. The result is that this spurs you on to do better next time and learn what you did wrong.
What’s more, the intriguing and involved narrative also plays a huge part in you persevering against difficult opponents, as you want to know how the story progresses.
Overall, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a very good role-playing game and one that not only is a proud addition to the Xeno series but also adds another great game to the library of the already buoyant Switch. That said, the discrepancy in performance between the docked and portable versions of the game is somewhat unfortunate and may limit your enjoyment. The good news on this though is that both modes are still very playable, so from a gameplay standpoint, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 delivers regardless of how you want to play it.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: December 1st 2017
Price: $59.99
Score: 8.5/10
Disclosure: Nintendo sent me a copy of this game for the purposes of this review.
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Is Xenoblade Chronicles 3 better than 1 and 2?
The biggest change Xenoblade Chronicles 3 brings to the franchise though, is its immersive open-world map. While the series has always been praised for its stunning art direction, the third entry in the Chronicles saga take this to next level by making its open world feel more alive.
Is Xenoblade Chronicles 2 a long game?
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Length It has a large campaign even without undertaking any side quests. According to How Long To Beat, the average time to beat Xenoblade Chronicles 2's story mode is approximately 64 hours. Players that go for all the side quests and main story are looking at 111 hours of playtime.
Should I play Xenoblade 1 or 2 before 3?
The JRPGs also always feature a major revelation in their stories, which reveals how each of the games is connected to each other. So those wanting to get the absolute best experience out of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 should play XBC 1 & 2 first.
Is Xenoblade 2 shorter than 1?
Given the myriad of continents/Titans, monsters, collectibles, and obtainable Blades, it's perhaps not a surprise that Xenoblade 2 will take longer to get through. But what's truly impressive is how long it'll take to complete everything - a whopping 253 hours vs 161 for the original.