Development

Development on Xenoblade Chronicles began at Monolith Soft a year before the studio was acquired by Nintendo. Monolith had originally been in the midst of developing games in the Xenosaga series, which director Tetsuya Takahashi envisioned as a six-part series. However, due to the disappointing commercial performance of the first two Xenosaga games, it would decided that the series would end with the third instalment.

This led to morale in the development team at Monolith being at an all-time low, which resulted in Takahashi conceptualizing, pitching, and green-lighting the development of Xenoblade Chronicles, with the support of Nintendo. The focus of the development team was on telling a grand and sweeping story, and on having that reflect in the gameplay as well, due to which they decided on the game’s large and open-ended open world design.

Takahashi initially considered a turn-based battle system for the game, but decided to a real-time action system would work better. Transitions between the environments and battle arenas were also considered, but Takahashi felt they disrupted the flow of the gameplay and decided that battles would take place in real-time environments instead. The number of cutscenes in the game was cut down from previous works by Monolith Soft so as to have a better balance between storytelling and gameplay, though the former still very much remained a focus.

The game was originally going to have no connected to Takahashi’s larger Xeno meta-franchise, with Monolith originally intending to call it Monado: The Beginning of the World. However, then-president of Nintendo Satoru Iwata had the name changed to Xenoblade (Xenoblade Chronicles in western localizations) in order to both, honour Takahashi’s past work and recognize the effort being invested in the game by him and his studio.

Takahashi, who wrote the scenario and also served as the director and producer on the game, co-wrote the script with Yuichiro Takeda and Yurie Hattori. Genki Yokota served as co-director, while the game’s music was composed by Manami Kiyota, ACE+, and Yoko Shimomura. Yasunori Mitsuda composed the game’s ending theme, “Beyond the Sky,” while Australian singer Sarah Àlainn performed the track in English.

Xenoblade Chronicles was officially unveiled by Nintendo at E3 2009, before releasing in Japan the following June. In August 2011, it was released in Europe, however, reports started emerging that Nintendo of America did not plan on releasing the game in North American territories (during development, Monolith Soft had worked under the assumption that the game would see a global release).

This led to a large-scale fan campaign called Operation Rainfall, with the objective of getting Nintendo of America to green-light the releases of Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and Pandora’s Tower. This entailed online petitions, organized campaigns, and emails, phone calls, and communications via social media to Nintendo. Operation Rainfall led to Xenoblade Chronicles becoming the #1 most pre-ordered game on Amazon.

Eventually, Nintendo of America finalized and announced the localization of all three games under Operation of Rainfall. Nintendo of America president Reggi Fils-Aime said that though Nintendo had taken the fan campaign into consideration, it had not been the deciding factor for them when determining whether to release the games in North America.

In 2013, development of a port of Xenoblade Chronicles for the Nintendo 3DS began, with the help of developer Monster Games (since Monolith Soft were busy working on a sequel). Though originally planned for the 3DS, the handheld’s technical capabilities were far inferior to those of the Wii, and porting proved to be a very difficult process. As a result, it was decided that the game would be exclusive to the more powerful New Nintendo 3DS. Due to the system’s additional shoulder buttons and C-Stick, the game could retain the control scheme from the Wii version as is.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D was announced in 2014, and released for the New Nintendo 3DS in April 2015. The game featured Street Pass functionality as well as support for amiibo, while 3D support was also featured, in spite of difficulties in ensuring the same during development. Environments were also rebuilt for the system, while development also entailed the creation of a new graphics engine and new level of detail system.

An enhanced remaster of Xenoblade Chronicles for the Nintendo Switch, titled Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, was also announced in September 2019. It was confirmed to feature a 10-12 hour long epilogue (that players could play at any time), enhanced visuals, quality of life improvements, remastered music, improved user interface, new difficulty modes, a time attack mode, returning voice cast, and more.

It was confirmed that the Future Connected epilogue would be set one year after the game, feature a completely new location that was not included in the original release, and would feature a new battle system. Nintendo also confirmed that Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition would not include some features from the game’s 3DS port, including the model viewer and amiibo support. In March 2020, Nintendo announced that the game would release worldwide on May 29, 2020.

Story

Xenoblade Chronicles is set in the backdrop of two titans, Bionis and Mechonis, being locked in an endless war. The two came into existence eons ago and became embroiled in endless conflicts, until only their frozen corpses remained. Eons later, the bodies of these titans became inhabited by various lifeforms. The Bionis was inhabited by all organic life, the most dominant of which were the humanoid Homs. The Mechonis was home to to mechanical machines, called Machina.

The inhabitants of Bionis and Mechonis – specifically the Homs and Machina – became embroiled in furious wars with each other. One of the key weapons used by the Homs in this war was the Monado, a mystical sword that would grant its wielder visions of the future. In the beginning of the game, Colony 9 on Bionis comes under attack and is ravaged by Machina called Mechon. Colony 9 resident Shulk comes into possession of the Monado, and he sets off on a journey with his friends to seek vengeance against the Mechon.

Gameplay

Xenoblade Chronicles’ battles occur in real time. Player control the movement of one of three party members, while all other party members attack automatically. Attacks called “Arts” are manually input by players. Battle Arts are available after cooldowns, while Talent Arts only become available after a certain number of auto-attacks is performed. Arts can also be used to replenish health, while health is regenerated automatically outside of combat.

Levelling up allows players to unlock new Arts, and players have choose which Arts each character can use by equipping them in the Battle Palette. Performing attacks during combat also increases every character’s “aggro ring” (which each character has), and the larger the ring grows, the more enemies focus on that character. Characters also have a Tension meter, and at higher Tension points, characters can deal more critical hits.

As each character lands successful hits, the “Party Gauge” also fills up, which, in turn, allows players to chain combo attacks on enemies. Thanks to the Monado, Shulk can also use the Visions system, which allows him to see glimpses of the future and change strategies on what he sees enemies might be about to do. Players can also customize their party characters in various ways, including weapons and armour.

Xenoblade Chronicles takes place in a large, seamless open world environment. There is a dynamic day/night system in place that affects various things, such as enemies, quests, and more. Exploration is heavily focused, and players are encouraged to explore environments to find new items and gear and undertake quests and side quests.

A Party Affinity system also shows the growing relationships between party members, and as these relationships grow, more story moments and character interactions are revealed. Players can also use gems dropped by fallen enemies in the gem crafting mini game. These gems can then be equipped by characters for boosted stats during combat.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Hoping to leverage the fan hysteria around the title, Xenoblade became reborn as the first New 3DS exclusive title. It is questionable whether the stopgap handheld can handle the power of Xenoblade; however, despite the shortcomings, I was really feeling it.

"It might be a fairly trite tale within the realm of the Japanese Role Playing genre, but the tight writing permeates the game and brings the player along the emotional ride "

The story is an old one, both in universe and in reality. An ageless war between two giants, the biological being known as the Bionis and the mechanical counterpart known as the Mechonis. Once the giants freeze in a stalemate, and a few millennia pass they give rise to many kinds of races who live off the bodies of the giants and carry on this timeless conflict.

Its during this time period we meet Shulk, an engineer living peacefully in one of the Hom colonies on the Bionis, studying the legendary Monodo blade that was said to be the one wielded by the Bionis in the old war. A surprise attack by the robotic Mechon turn the world of Shulk and his friends upside down, and usher Shulk into his destiny as the wielder of the Monado.

My plot summery unfortunately can’t ever do the story any justice within the body of this review. It might be a fairly trite tale within the realm of the Japanese role playing genre, but the tight writing permeates the game and brings the player along the emotional ride with the diverse cast. It really earns that constantly misused adjective “Epic”, with the hundred hour plus story matching perfectly with the expansive world.

"The New 3DS version sacrifices several lighting effects and general texture quality, on top of the already abysmal resolution the New 3DS maxes out at. The result leaves Xenoblade Chronicles 3D looking no better than a Playstation 1 game. "

Expansive is really the only word to describe it too. Singular maps are simply massive, not knowing the meaning of the term “draw distance”. Stunning vistas and gorgeous fields stretch for miles before you, delivering on the feeling of being a tiny creature living on the back of a giant.

Load times are minimal, maybe a few seconds long between map transitions and cutscenes, but never take you out of the absorbing world. Battles take place in real time and are fashioned almost like MMO combat, meaning the transition between exploring the world and fighting is seamless.

Truly, Xenoblade is one of those games that doesn’t simply give you a skybox of lies. If you can see it, you can probably go there. But what sacrifices they made to force it all into the handheld form. Resolution was never Xenoblade’s friend on the Wii, with the game leaning on art design to make the world both cohesive and easy on the eyes. The New 3DS version sacrifices several lighting effects and general texture quality, on top of the already abysmal resolution the New 3DS maxes out at. The result leaves Xenoblade Chronicles 3D looking no better than a Playstation 1 game.

"Positioning is paramount in Xenoblade, with skills like Shulk’s backslash having alternate or bonus effects when delivered from the proper location on the foe. "

While it doesn’t look the best, it does still play smooth as butter. Framerate rarely drops without a ton of action on screen, and the new 3DS controls are put to the limit, especially during battle scenes. The score is simply engrossing throughout, with big orchestrated pieces and somber melodies slotting in perfectly to every scene and environment. 3D is put to OK use by the game, but given the lengthy sessions it sucked me into, I turned it off in favour of battery.

As mentioned before, Combat is more reminiscent of MMO titles. Less Persona, more WoW. A battle pallet opens along the bottom of the screen upon engaging an enemy, with the arts of whomever you happen to be controlling at the time. Basic attacks happen automatically once you get in range, allowing you to focus on positioning and art usage.

Positioning is paramount in Xenoblade, with skills like Shulk’s backslash having alternate or bonus effects when delivered from the proper location on the foe. Finding that opening comes from managing the enemies attention in the form of “aggro”. Certain party members are better at drawing that aggro and taking knocks than others, but you don’t want to let them take a beating sight unseen. How you manage that can depend on the situation, whether that’s healing arts or moving the aggro around to different party members.

"One might go into Xenoblade considering it to be Shulk’s story, but while a central character, it really isn’t all about him. Not only is the diverse cast to the benefit of the story, but you can play as every party member to your liking. "

Shortly into the game, the Monado grows in power and adds an additional wrinkle to combat with visions. Deadly blows become revealed to you ahead of time with premonitions, and giving you a chance to prevent the attack through your own skills, or asking another party member to use theirs. Different types of enemy arts demand different techniques to change the future such as moving their attention around or shielding the target from the attack.

One might go into Xenoblade considering it to be Shulk’s story, but while a central character, it really isn’t all about him. Not only is the diverse cast to the benefit of the story, but you can play as every party member to your liking. This allows a change up in both your personal play style and party flow depending on situation or personal preference. In fact, it’s to ones benefit to switch up party members frequently in order for party members to build affinity between each other.

Affinity ties into skill trees, of which each character has three. You can focus on one tree at any time, and once leveled sufficiently it unlocks a permanent skill for that character. Skill linking though is something that can take place between party members once they’ve fostered their relationship, and quite basically means they can share skills between each other. It’s yet another layer onto the massive control you have over party building.

"The fact remains that Xenoblade is a massive, massive title. Its greatest asset, and quite unlike anything else in its genre, is the expedience of it all. "

Equipment both unique and regular, gems, affinity with areas of the map, the fact remains that Xenoblade is a massive, massive title. Its greatest asset, and quite unlike anything else in its genre, is the expedience of it all. The best example is questing, where most of the time you need not return to the quest giver to hand it in. There are a handful of story driven ones where you return to the same named NPC a few times, but the majority can be tackled passively as you play the game normally.

Fast travel is also open from the outset, cutting any tedious backtracking through terrain or enemies way below you out completely. NPC characters run on a schedule much like Majora’s Mask did, but Xenoblade one ups it by including a clock you can manipulate down to the hour, preventing busywork like tracking down a quest giver during their day or waiting for them to show up.

Xenoblade is a particularly special experience, though the new 3DS does make it a little harder to swallow. If one can get past the enormous visual downgrades, there is still a massive, breathing world to explore, just filled with great characters. If you’ve been sitting on the Wii version of the game, or are thinking about dropping for the New 3DS to play it, the Wii one is far and away the definitive edition. If you have the system, and want an experience that makes the most of it, and something pretty amazing on its own merits, it’s Xenoblade time.

This game was reviewed on the New Nintendo 3DS.

Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles 3D has been met with rave reviews from critics but considering it’s a port of the original Wii title, it was a foregone conclusion. However, the fact that the developer brought the game on to the New Nintendo 3DS is an achievement in itself. Director Tetsuya Takahashi in a recent Iwata Asks interview with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata believes that this helps raise the standard for RPGs on portables.

“Now we can play Xenoblade Chronicles on the New Nintendo 3DS XL, and…now, this may sound a little egotistical, but I thought, ‘This is really going to raise the bar for RPGs on portable devices.'”

Takahashi also spoke about the appeal of JRPG protagonists compared to Western RPG heroes. “One difference is that [Xenoblade Chronicles] did a good job of incorporating the innate heroism of JRPGs…allowing the user to become the hero, to become the protagonist. On the other hand, games made in the West – and this is only my personal opinion – they are very well made, down to the last detail, but there’s something stoic about them, and often the heroism aspect seems to take a bit of a back seat.

“In JRPGs, the protagonists aren’t very strong. They seem like people you could meet on the street who just happen to be born to a certain destiny, and are drawn by some force into doing things that they could have never believed possible… But if Westerners really didn’t like that kind of story, Star Wars wouldn’t have become such a hit. Because that movie is just this type of story.”

Thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, the New 3DS port of the ambitious open world Wii exclusive JRPG, is almost here – it launches April 10 – and ahead of that, here is a launch trailer for you to enjoy, and see just how Nintendo and Monster Games have managed the task of shrinking Monolith Soft’s staggering open world to the palm sized 3DS.

On the whole, it looks like the transition was smooth, with any concessions the game’s graphics might have had to make negated by the smaller screen hiding the blemishes. The game remains a classic of the genre, and for anyone who didn’t get the chance to play it back in 2011-12, or couldn’t get into it, maybe this version will help catch you up on all the hype.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D launches exclusively for New Nintendo 3DS models in April. older 3DS models will not run the game. Later this year, Monolith Soft will be launching Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U.

All eyes are on Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U but if you haven’t had a chance to experience the original game, then one should check out Xenoblade Chronicles 3D for the New 3DS/3DS XL. It’s a port of the original game for the handheld and still contains roughly 100 hours of gameplay.

Unfortunately, those who pick up the downloadable version will need a big microSD card. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D will require a microSD card that’s 8 GB or larger according to Nintendo UK. You could also pick up the retail version, of course, but those making a digital purchase should pay heed.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is out on April 2nd in Europe and April 10th in North America. Xenoblade Chronicles X, on the other hand, will be out on April 29th in Japan for the Wii U. Stay tuned for more information on a Western release in the coming months.

The game is still going to be published by Nintendo and is one of the very first games to be an exclusive title for their newly updated handheld platform, the New Nintendo 3DS.

At this time, the game is currently slated to drop in Japan and PAL regions on April 2nd, whereas North America must wait until April 10th.

• 1. Development
• 2. Story
• 3. Gameplay
• 4. Characters

Development

Xenoblade Chronicles was originally a game that was developed for the Nintendo Wii, where a staggered localization schedule saw the game arrive in different territories at drastically different times. Arriving in Japan on June 10th of 2010, Europe on August 19th 2011, Australia on September 1st of 2011 and finally in North America on April 6th 2012.

The localisation process for getting the game to North America was very drawn out and resulted in fans of the series taking action by way of creating petitions, mass pre-ordering products related to the game to see it climb to the top of sales charts and writing to Nintendo of America asking for it. This project was titled “Operation Rainfall”, similar to the “Operation Moonfall” name used to demand a Majora’s Mask 3DS remake (which happened February 13th of 2015).

Though despite the action and dedication of the fans involved with Operation Rainfall, the localisation process was not spurred along by their longing for the game, Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo of America has said that, “I have to tell you – it doesn’t affect what we do. We certainly look at it, and we’re certainly aware of it, but it doesn’t necessarily affect what we do.”

He went on to say “I wanted to bring Xenoblade here. The deal was, how much of a localisation effort is it? How many units are we going to sell, are we going to make money? We were literally having this debate while Operation Rainfall was happening, and we were aware that there was interest for the game, but we had to make sure that it was a strong financial proposition.”

Following the game’s initial launch in North America, and the other territories, it was praised for being a brilliant and lengthy adventure packed with content. This perhaps inspired the port of the game, following the resurgence of JRPGs on handheld platforms.

It was on August 29th of 2014 that Nintendo announced that they were working on a port of Xenoblade Chronicles that would be coming exclusively to their newest upcoming handheld, the New Nintendo 3DS. A more powerful version of the regular 3DS with some extra buttons and a C-stick.

This announcement came by way of a Japan only Nintendo Direct Presentation that caused fans to express their concerns over the issue of localisation once again. But it was later announced that the game would indeed be coming to PAL regions, North America and Australia. This was confirmed when the game was given a world wide release date of April 2015. Specifically, the game is set to arrive in Japan and PAL regions on April 2nd, whereas North America must wait until April 10th.

One of the new features in the game is the inclusion of the Street Pass functionality. Following in the wake of the Amiibo craze, the New Nintendo 3DS port will also feature Amiibo functionality that will make use of the Shulk Amiibo.

Story

Xenoblade Chronicles is set in a world that was nothing but ocean, from pole to pole. This is until two colossal titans, named Bionis and Mechonis, came into being. The two monstrous beings then engaged in a battle that lasted beyond our ability to conceive the passage of time. Their battle raged until, after an unmeasurable amount of time, a final blow was delivered, leaving both of the massive lifeless corpses forever entwined in combat.

After countless eons pass, new and strange forms of life start to take form and grow on the now dead titans. On Bionis, as the “Bio” portion of the name would imply, organic life began to flourish, this includes the humanoid beings, the Homs.

Conversely, on the corpse of the Mechonis titan, once again as the name would imply, Mechanical life somehow took form and began to thrive. This included the species known as Machina.

Like the mighty Titans that came before them, the two organic and mechanical species’ started to fight each other, thus re-enacting the endless battle of the titans upon which they live.

This is where the player takes control of the young 18 year old named Shulk. Shulk lives on the body of Bionis and has his home in Colony 9. Colony 9 comes under attack from the Mechon. In this attack, Shulk comes to own the Monado, a blade of legend that’s capable of doing damage to the mechanical Mechon. Not only does the sword grant the wielder the ability to fight the Mechon, it also lets them see the future.

Gameplay

Xenoblade Chronicles is, at its core, an action adventure role playing game that is set in an open world environment. As you would expect from the genre, the player adventures forward and takes on quests from NPCs throughout the game world, completing these tasks will progress the story and level up the player and their party of team mates.

The gameplay is from a third person perspective and makes use of the popular, real time action based battle systems that are perhaps most recognisably implemented in the Final Fantasy video games, specifically Final Fantasy XII, and a number of MMORPGs.

Players can manually input attack commands that are called Arts, but these are only available after a limited cooldown period which begins after each use. These arts can be offensive, defensive and can even be used to heal party members. Healing is, of course, crucial to your success as both party members and enemies have a set amount of health that, once depleted, will result in a game over or a victory condition.

Characters

The following is a list of seven playable characters in Xenoblade Chronicles.

• Shulk – Shulk is the main protagonist and wields the Monado.
• Dunban – Dunban is considered to be the “voice of reason”.
• Fiora – Fiora is a friend of Shulk and Reyn, she’s also Dunban’s younger sister.
• Melia – Melia is a powerful mage from the Royal City.
• Sharla – Sharla is a medic serving with the Colony 6 defence force.
• Reyn – Reyn is another of Shulks childhood friends and also serves in the Colony 6 defence force.
• Riki – Riki is a member of the Nopon race, a race of merchant-like people.

Note: This wiki will be updated once we have more information about the game.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, the port of Monolith Soft’s hit Wii exclusive JRPG, coming exclusively to New Nintendo 3DS systems in April, and Nintendo is showing us more and more of the game as we near its release. The port, which is frankly astonishing, given that they seem to have gotten all of Xenoblade to somehow work on a handheld without much compromise, looks like it will bring the original Xenoblade Chronicles to a much wider audience than the Wii game managed, ahead of this year’s Xenoblade Chronicles X.

If you do choose to watch this trailer, be warned that there may be minor spoilers that you want to watch out for. It’s mostly a very well edited trailer that doesn’t give much in the way of big plot points away, but of course, there is no telling what someone might find a spoiler.

Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more coverage of the game.

The upcoming Nintendo 3DS remake of the acclaimed Monolith Soft developed Wii exclusive JRPG, Xenoblade Chronicles, is almost here, and as we near the release date, we see more and more of the miraculous port which, against all odds, has somehow been made to work on a tiny handheld.

And now, here’s probably our biggest look at the game so far- 24 minutes of footage of the game running on the New Nintendo 3DS; while there are some obvious downgrades here, frankly, we have to admit that it looks pretty darn good, and that anyone getting the 3DS version won’t be missing out or getting a compromised experience of the original title.

With the original Xenoblade Chronicles being in such short stock – it frequently commands prices of over $100 on online auction sites due to its limited availability – the 3DS version may also be many people’s best bet of playing the RPG ahead of the release of Xenoblade Chronicles X for the Wii U, which is scheduled for later this year.

For those of you that, like myself, love to drop a huge amount of time into a well made JRPG, the chances are good that you’ve been pouring over all the available screenshots and trailers for Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. You may even have been posting on forums, just trying to locate more information or new content reveals.

Well for now, your search can be put on pause. Nintendo have seen fit to release a brand new three minute long trailer, that is packed with gameplay, by way of their official Nintendo YouTube channel. The trailer shows off a number of new combat scenarios and takes the viewer through a number of new areas that we haven’t seen yet thanks to some brand new footage.

Despite being a port of a console game to the New 3DS XL hardware, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D still boasts impressive visuals and a lot of gameplay hours to be chewed through. The game is set to drop in the UK, Europe and Japan on April 2nd, but gamers in North America are going to have to wait until April 10th.