Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Review (Nintendo Switch)

Xenoblade 2 Title with Rex and Mythra

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (ゼノブレイド2)

Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher Nintendo
Genre: Japanese Role-Playing Game
Release Date: December 1, 2017

What would your life be like if you had ultimate power and immortality? That is a question many of us ponder as a thought experiment, and one of the many themes running throughout Xenoblade Chronicles 2. This game was originally released near the beginning of the Nintendo Switch's lifetime; Xenoblade Chronicles 2 set the stage for Nintendo's latest console to be the premiere console for Japanese role-playing games. The game was released as a critical darling and a huge fan favorite, becoming the highest-selling Monolith Soft game ever, growing the Xenoblade franchise as one of the premier JRPG franchises. Let us explore one of the best Japanese RPGs ever made in our review of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Taking a note from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has little attachment to previous games aside from common themes, item names, world races, and some cameos from Xenosaga and previous Xenoblade games. The game takes place in a world called Alrest, with the world creatures living on gigantic beasts called Titans. People in this world live side-by-side with blades, immortal creatures who reflect the wishes and ideals of their summoner (they called them drivers). Upon the driver's death, the blades go back into their crystal. When summoned again, the blades reawaken with no memories of their past. In their world, they live in a sea of clouds that few dares go inside since it is a dangerous as water for those who refuse to swim in it. In the center of their world is a gigantic World Tree, and on the top of the World Tree is a paradise called Elysium. All the inhabitants of the world believe in a supreme creator who lives in Elysium, the Architect. In Alrest, there was a great war five hundred years ago called the Aegis War. This war led to the destruction of an ancient Kingdom and took countless lives. Since then, the world was at relative peace, with shades of trouble bubbling under the surface, like some countries vying for power by conquering other Titans. You will uncover the amazing world-building, captivating themes, and intense storyline over 70+ hours just for the base story, and hundreds of hours for people who want to do sidequests and explore many of the world's secrets.

Nia's Snark is welcome

The series has a massive and well-developed cast, and for the sake of being spoiler-free, will only cover the main characters in the promotional material and the first 10 or so hours of the game. By the time you beat the game, you will know the entire cast very well, and you will feel attached to them. It helps that they have incredible character dynamics and are one of the best JRPG casts ever assembled. The main playable character is Rex, a young, idealistic teen who yearns to climb up World Tree to find Elysium. He lives on the back of a Titan who raised him, Gramps. Rex is a typical working-class guy, living paycheck-to-paycheck as a salvager; people who go into the Cloud Sea to find trinkets and artifacts to sell. He meets a mysterious man named Malos and his band of people called Torna to salvage an ancient ship. Rex meets a Gormotti catgirl named Nia and her blade Dromach. Nia is cynical and hot-tempered but becomes drawn to Rex’s idealism and optimism. After certain story events, Rex pairs up with the buxom Pyra, the Aegis, and the ultimate blade. She trades her immortality by giving him half her life energy. Pyra and her alter ego, Mythra is the main characters of the story, and their journey to Elysium in Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are the central force pushing the narrative. Pyra and Mythra are both incredibly likable, Pyra being the sweeter and gentler half, and Mythra being the harsher half. They are so popular, they got included in Super Smash Bros Ultimate. For reasons the players will find out throughout the story, they both prefer not using their powers as much as possible. They eventually meet a Gomotti Nopon named Tora and his artificial blade Poppi. There are other party members, and they play a significant role later in the storyline.

One fun thing that plays out in the game is the emphasis on accents. The game continues its tradition of using British accents to give it a unique and fun flair. Nia and all the cat people of Gormott have Welsh accents that give those inhabitants a sense of fun and style. Rex and all the people of Leftheria have Northern England accents (or Northern Accents if you seen enough Doctor Who). The people of Mor Ardain speak Scottish and a particularly important story character from there also has this accent. In the land of Uraya, the people have an Australian accent. Rounding out the accents, the people of Indol and the blades have an American accent, including, of course, Pyra and Mythra (famously voiced by British girl Skye Bennett). People from Tantal and Torna have a Southern British accent. Having all kinds of unique accents gives the game a flair unlike most videogames, and it becomes apparent what lands they come from the moment they open their mouth.

Pyra in a night scene, the blades glow

You cannot talk about Xenoblade Chronicles 2 without talking about the graphics. The game pushes the Nintendo Switch like no other, and even now, almost five years after it came out, it is still one of the most gorgeous games on the Nintendo Switch. It is the game that will also benefit the most from an enhanced Switch Pro or Switch 2 version. The graphics are gorgeous; the in-game character models are expressive and full of detail. They are some of the most gorgeous anime-styled character models seen in a game, and they do great character art justice. Speaking of character art, there is a variety of character art from the main character designer and the wealth of unique blades. The lands of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are gigantic, pushing you to explore every nook and cranny. The Titans and the big cities are all distinctive and gorgeous, being instantly noticeable from a screenshot. They utilize lighting and environmental effects to push graphics that are far beyond the typical Nintendo Switch game. The game has beautiful cutscenes, utilizing the depth of field and bokeh to enhance a scene. The scenes are also gorgeously animated, being some of the most fluid and gorgeous choreography put in a game. I cannot stress this enough, the choreography in the action scenes is amazingly well animated and puts most games to shame. The game is a stunner, and on even more powerful future Nintendo hardware is worthy of another playthrough to experience it all again.

Music makes or breaks a game, and in Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s case, it makes the game. The game has quite possibly one of the best gaming soundtracks ever made. The game has multiple composers led by the legendary Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Xenosaga 1). The soundtrack in many of its pieces has a full orchestra behind the score, with some huge standouts such as the Mor Adain daytime theme and the Torigoth daytime theme. Yasunori Mitsuda also has a strong affection towards vocal themes, and the inclusion of vocals enhances many town themes and map themes. The Indol theme day and night is outstanding and fits the theme of it being the center of their world's religion. Monolith Soft and Nintendo pumped a lot of money into the game's soundtrack and it pays off.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is almost perfect but has several nagging issues that stop it from getting there. The first big issue is the wayfinding on the map. I will be frank, it is horrible. When going through a large map, nothing is more frustrating than going from one end to another only to time out that you should have gone inside the Titan, and the only entrance was where you started. They knew it was an issue and polished the wayfinding in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Another issue is the graphics, while gorgeous, really really push the Nintendo Switch to its absolute limits. The game goes to low resolutions handheld, and even in the console version, it never goes the full 1080p, and during special combos, it drops like a rock. My biggest problem and an issue for lots of people is the inclusion of the gacha mechanics for blade summoning. When you summon blades, you get generic blades that are okay. Every rarely, you summon a special blade with their own stories, side-quests, and more. I put over 230 hours in the game, and I still never got KOS-MOS.

Overall, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a superb game, one of the best Japanese role-playing games ever made. It has incredible worldbuilding, a delightful story, a godly soundtrack, and one of the best cast of characters ever put in a game. It is a superb game that Nintendo Switch owners should play. Do yourself a favor and experience one of the greatest RPG adventures for yourself.

Links

Monolith Soft JP Site

Xenoblade 2 JP Site

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 USA Site

Pyra and Mythra Smash Bros Ultimate