Unlike Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park and Kirby and the Forgotten Land – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Star-Crossed World, however, there isn’t any additional content. Instead, the Switch 2 version offers frame rates up to 60 FPS and resolutions up to 4K. It’s a sizable jump for the open-world title visually, but that’s it.

On the bright side, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition offers plenty of new additions for those who only played the original. Alongside some post-campaign story content and a new location, there are also two new party members and new tracks. You can check out our review here for more details.

The real question now is whether Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 will receive the Switch 2 upgrade treatment, especially considering their above-average sales. It wouldn’t be surprising if MonolithSoft has a brand-new title in the works, built specifically for the console, so stay tuned for any official announcement.

It’s important to state this upfront, because it is also important to not go into Xenoblade X with the wrong set of expectations. Fans of the numbered trilogy who come into this game expecting the same moving, operatic, epic stories that balance life themes with truly personal tales following their leads, for example, will find X to be disappointing. Or if you come into it expecting the sort of nuance to quest design or combat that the later numbered games in the series would go on to develop, you’ll find this title a step back. If you come into it expecting the same sort of soundtracks as the rest of the series – those soundtracks are widely acclaimed and among the most beloved component of the franchise, after all – then you will be disappointed. None of this is to say that this is a bad game, to be clear – just that where its strengths lie differs largely from where the strengths of the other games lie.

Xenoblade Chronicles X (and by extension this Definitive Edition) is, more than anything else, like an offline MMORPG. That description has often been used to describe the other titles in the series too, but it holds truer here than it ever has for those other games. Xenoblade Chronicles X doesn’t have the same sort of narrative focus those other games do. It has a core premise that sets up a reason for you to venture out into, and tame, its vast world, and then it largely leaves players to their own devices. There is still a story here, but the quests are gated by multiple requirements that space them out by hours – often dozens of hours – of gameplay, gameplay spent exploring the world, fighting the wildlife, completing quests, getting closer to the people of New LA, and more. 

By definition, that structure implies a lack of focus on the plot – the story is being diluted specifically to facilitate more gameplay. Xenoblade Chronicles X doesn’t really have any pretensions towards being a narrative heavy title either. Unlike the leads of the other games, who are fleshed out, named characters who are often arguably the best in their respective games, X has you create your own silent character as the protagonist. Obviously it’s not focusing as much on the story then.

"Xenoblade Chronicles X (and by extension this Definitive Edition) is, more than anything else, like an offline MMORPG. That description has often been used to describe the other titles in the series too, but it holds truer here than it ever has for those other games. "

This can feel frustrating if you are coming into this game expecting anything like the numbered Xenoblade games, but it does work for this game. You see, the star of this game – more than for any of the other games in the series, which is really saying something – is the world. And everything in the game is specifically designed and structured to facilitate as much engagement with that world as possible.

The setup of Xenoblade Chronicles X has mankind fleeing Earth after an all out alien war above its skies scorched the planet. One of the ships that fled Earth crash lands on a planet named Mira, where they set about constructing a community, both in terms of the infrastructure, and the people who will populate it. An organization named Building a Legacy After Destruction of Earth (BLADE; yes, really) is leading the charge to help set things up and push exploration out further into the planet, so that it can be better understood, and humanity can learn to coexist in its new home with the indigenous life better. The protagonist obviously ends up becoming a member of BLADE, and then carrying out various missions and quests, both within New LA (the name of the human city on Mira), and outside it, in the wilderness of Mira itself. 

Obviously things are never that simple, and eventually the plot does escalate stakes from its initial open ended setup to a more coalesced central conflict that seems to have chased humanity across time and space. The story in Xenoblade X is not bad, in fact it is on occasion surprisingly compelling science fiction. However, it is never the point – and that is one key area of difference between this game, and the other Xenoblade titles.

Actually exploring the world is where this game ends up being most similar to other Xenoblade games. The developers have put their experience of creating exotic and surreal seeming landscapes and vistas to good use here, creating a truly alien landscape that still nonetheless looks and feels cohesive and grounded, as if all of it could have naturally evolved on another planet. In parties of up to four, players go out into Mira’s wilderness to install probes for research and mining, to catalog and tame the wildlife, to find other survivors from the crash landing, and more. Along the way, you fight some truly impressive indigenous life. Every part of Mira is crawling with all sorts of life. And in true Xenoblade fashion, no area, no matter how early in the game, is safe from higher levered monsters skulking with the lower leveled grunts.

World exploration in Xenoblade X is a joy, something that you can easily lose hours to. The world lacks structure as much as the game itself, meaning once you are exploring Mira, you can simply keep going, guided by nothing but your own innate curiosity, or the jaw dropping sights and vistas on display, the treasure or the sinister lore you can uncover, or simply the challenge of getting to some place that you can see but not make your way to. Dozens of hours into the game, and exploring the world can still be a delight – in part because right around then is when the game finally lets players have the much vaunted Skells, mech suits that make traversal and combat a breeze, and open up Mira to the player like never before.

"The developers have put their experience of creating exotic and surreal seeming landscapes and vistas to good use here, creating a truly alien landscape that still nonetheless looks and feels cohesive and grounded."

Combat involves managing auto-attacks, cooldowns for player initiated abilities, and positioning. X rewards players who properly leverage status conditions and buffs, and unlike that game, it involves a full featured class system which ends up leading to a surprising amount of variety for the builds that players can create. In terms of the moment to moment combat, X is among the weaker games in the series, even with some of its own twists to the formula (such as forcing an ability before cooldown). The class system, however, does add a lot of nuance and texture to the act of creating builds. 

Earlier I mentioned the soundtrack of X as being one of the areas where it differs from the rest of the hames in the series. And it does – whether that’s in a good way or bad is probably going to come down to individual music tastes. However, what I can say is that the musical identity and sound of this game is almost nothing like that of the rest of the series. That should theoretically lead to some of the best music in the series, if not outright across the genre and medium. Unfortunately, at least for me, that is decidedly not the case.

At best I find the music in X to be tolerable, perfectly bland and blending into the background. At worst – such as whenever I am in New LA – I find it grating and annoying, and it actively takes me out of the game. The music of the Xenoblade games has been a huge part of my immersion in their worlds and stories – X’s soundtrack disappointing me, in spite of the obvious talent behind it, is definitely a mark against the game in my opinion. Again, others may very well have different takes on this – music is a very personal and subjective thing, and if you like what you hear, I can see it being a big strength of the game for you. For me, however, and I imagine for anyone who wants something that sounds more like, well, Xenoblade, the music may be an uncharacteristic miss in X (the poor sound compression absolutely does not help either).

"In terms of the Switch release versus the Wii U one, it’s almost all improvements."

In terms of the Switch release versus the Wii U one, it’s almost all improvements. While obviously, Wii U specific functionality (such as dual screen gameplay enabled by the Gamepad, or Miiverse integration) is no longer a part of this release, everything else has made it over as is. The big exception is the UI, which has been greatly improved from how horrible it was in the original Wii U release, and is a lot more sensibly laid out and legible now.

Graphics also look better than in the Wii U release, including in the portable mode, an area where Xenoblade 3 and especially 2 both struggled on the Switch heavily. There are, however, framerate drops and pop in often enough to be noticeable. And, of course, there is the elephant in the room that is the new story content added to the game in this Definitive Edition. The original Xenoblade X left some threads hanging, and with the rest of the series not following up on those, it’s great to have them properly resolved here.

It’s also great to have X available on a modern system, other than leaving it stranded on the Wii U. In spite of my complaints with it, it’s a great game that has a lot going in its favour – chiefly related to exploring its exotic and hostile world. While its differences from the rest of the series mean that players may not enjoy it in the same way or for the same reasons that they do the rest of the series, its considerable strengths do mean that they will enjoy it all the same.

And hey, perhaps in charting out the wilderness of Mira, many Xenoblade fans will find a title that to them is far more compelling than anything else that the rest of the series has to offer. That is not where I landed on X by the end, but that doesn’t mean that will be true for everybody else too. More than anything else, it’s great that this game is now available on Switch, and people have the option and the opportunity to finally play it and form an opinion on its strengths and weaknesses of their own.

This game was reviewed on Nintendo Switch.

Unconnected from mainline Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy, Xenoblade Chronicles X sees the survivors of a destroyed Earth travelling to a distant planet in hopes of making a new home for humanity. Expect a massive open world, pilotable mechs in both traversal and combat, multiplayer content that lets up to 32 players play together, and unlike other Xenoblade titles, a fully customizable protagonist.

The Definitive Edition re-release touts visual and technical enhancements, new story content, location, music tracks (with original composer Hiroyuki Sawano returning), and even a couple of new party members.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition launches for the Nintendo Switch on March 20.

Upgraded Character Models

Like its predecessor, Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive completely overhauls the character models of all the major cast members. Graphics comparisons between the Wii U and Switch versions of the game reveal brand new clothing for characters, such as Elma’s new crimson leg plates replacing the low resolution metal ones from the original. Faces also look less plasticy here, with Definitive sharpening the eyes while adding dimensionality to the skin through lighting and contour. As expected, the Definitive edition enhances visuals for HD, improving general textures and lighting across the board.

Doesn’t Include Japan-only Content

In case there was any doubt, yes, the definitive edition includes all of the DLC that the original Japanese version added to international markets. However, it has been confirmed that the Japanese-only outfits as well as the  customization features for Cross are omitted from Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive.

New Story Elements

Eagle-eyed fans of the game may have noticed some never-before-seen cinematics from the trailers. It has been confirmed that, indeed, Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition features new story content seamlessly woven through the game. It’s likely these new bits of story tie up loose ends of Lau’s story following the events of Chapter 12. As a delightful bonus for audiophiles, additional music has been composed to accompany the new story elements.

Party Swap Feature

It was truly a pain to recruit squad members to your party in the original. You had to travel all the way over to NLS and individually search them out to add these characters to your party. This was a colossal pain considering the dozen and a half recruitable characters in the game. Definitive thankfully eliminates all that busywork with an Active Party menu which can swap party members in and out wherever you are in Mira. The remaster even lets non-active party members in reserve gain XP, which is something else the original didn’t have.

2 New Characters and 2 Additional Skells

What makes the party swap feature even better are the two new recruitable party members. The only thing we know about the new NeilNail character is they’re a Qluarian who may have built or owned the two Neilnail Skells (the controllable mechs) from the original game. Leisel is the other squadmate, a test pilot in charge of the “Hraesvelg” Skell. Speaking of, this Hraesvelg Skell will be included in Definitive as well as a new Ares-type Skell.

New Floating Continent Zone

Continuing the streak of new content is a fully-blown floating continent to explore. Just about nobody knows what this area is or what it signifies, and if someone does have an idea, be sure to let us know in the comments. From the trailer, it looks to have lots of fragmented spires, adding a decent amount of verticality and depth to exploration.

BLADE Level and Field Skill Levels Are Gone

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive trims some of the ‘fat’ that tended to bloat out the original experience. Some of the bloat in question was BLADE level, a tiered rank that unlocked certain Missions as well as improving Field Skills. This additional leveling system has been axed to let players access basic Missions based on story progress and obtain field treasures immediately upon discovery.

New Quick Cooldown Meter

Waiting to use abilities is a core part of Xenoblade Chronicles X’s gameplay identity, and X Definitive smooths this process with a backup ‘Quick’ Cooldown meter. Arts still have specific cooldown times, but the Quick Cooldown meter allows players to bypass Art cooldowns as long as the meter is not depleted. No doubt this reserve cooldown bank will make aspects of fights easier, but if it makes for a smoother and more engaging combat experience, it may be worth it.

Mission Item Location Markers

Definitive Edition goes further with its convenience features with new dedicated item location markers. The ‘Follow Ball’ item performs this helpful deed by clearly marking mission-specific items right on the map for you to locate.  I have to say, the more I learn about the quality of life additions, the more I want to dig into the intimidating mammoth of an RPG that I missed with Xenoblade Chronicles X.

Massive Open World Featuring 5 Explorable Continents

And mammoth it truly is with its five gigantic open-world continents and the large multi-district city of New Los Angeles. Size doesn’t necessarily promise a better game, quite the opposite in some cases, but Xenoblade Chronicles X boasts a whopping 154 square miles (Breath of the Wild has 140); a vast area made even more exhilarating through the seamless Skell traversal. There are a multitude of different Skell units for sale around Mira, all with upgradable components and, get this, insurance, which is used for repairs. And the five continents are varied in their biomes and wildlife too, which is appropriate given the hunting and gathering aspect of the game.

Character Creator

Aiding in the game’s vast sense of scale and immersion is the ability to craft your own unique character. The Definitive edition doesn’t add any additional customization elements in this regard, so you’re stuck choosing between some predefined faces and hair templates without the ability to shape a face from scratch. Still, the various accessories, outfits, and general improvement of faces help spruce up the character customization.

Battle System

For the uninitiated, combat within the Xenoblade Chronicles X  typically revolves around actions (Arts) set to a cooldown timer. You attack enemies in real-time, but must manage Arts cooldowns and buffing/healing the party through the QTE Soul Voice system. It’s an interesting blend of MMO design and active-time battles, and with the convenience features that Definitive adds, it’s more accessible than ever.

Story

The plot in the game goes in some wild directions, but the basics are pretty simple. You escape a destroyed earth aboard a space vessel and wind up an amnesiac on the mysterious planet of Mira. Joining the human defense force, BLADE, while exploring the untapped mysteries of Mira becomes a big part of the game’s initial plot.

When the White Whale crashlands on Mira, you venture out as part of BLADE to assist and protect New Los Angeles. Whether it’s hunting dangerous monsters, rescuing citizens or detailing Mira’s expanses, there’s a lot to do. Combat should also be familiar to series’ fans, though it offers a new feature, Overdrive, for quickly using Arts off cooldown for 20 seconds.

You can also pilot Skells, mechs with their own unique abilities and functions dealing extensive damage. They also transform, making exploration that much easier.

Alongside the single-player story, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition offers online multiplayer where up to 32 players can partake in world missions to complete tasks. Four players can also squad up and take on challenging battles. If that wasn’t enough, there’s new post-story content with fresh threats to tackle.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition launches on March 20th for Nintendo Switch.

Much of the original’s story and gameplay carries over with humanity escaping the destruction of Earth aboard the USS White Whale. Crash-landing on Mira, they establish a colony and seek to rescue any survivors from the White Whale’s Lifeholds. While there are wild creatures to encounter, an alien species native to Mira also appears, resulting in conflict.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition offers new story elements, Skell mechs, and characters, but that’s not all. Those who purchase the game by April 6th via the eShop, My Nintendo Store or GameStop will receive the Exploration Support Pack. It provides 100,000 Credits, starting armor and weapons, six weapon augments and five armor augments. These can be collected from the BLADE Barracks’ Customization Center after Chapter 3.

That, however, no longer seems to be the case. Spotted by Automaton Media, an update to Monolith Soft’s website now confirms that 100 percent of the studio’s shares are now owned by Nintendo. Of course, functionally, this won’t make much difference, since Nintendo already had full control over the studio anyway, though on paper, Monolith Soft is now entirely in Nintendo’s ownership.

The studio’s next release is Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, which is due out for the Nintendo Switch in March. What Monolith Soft’s next big game will be is currently unknown, though with Nintendo’s next-gen console presumably launching in 2025, one would hope that the studio’s next title will be unveiled for it in the not-too-distant future.

Originally launched in 2015 for the Nintendo Wii U, Xenoblade Chronicles X is set in the future as a human ship, the White Whale, crashlands on the planet Mira. As a member of BLADE, players locate survivors and complete quests for the citizens of New Los Angeles. It’s easier said than done, especially with hostile lifeforms roaming the planet like the Tyrants.

Unlike the other Xenoblade Chronicles titles, you can create an avatar. There are different roles to take on, like the Pathfinder, who discovers new locations, or the Reclaimers, who explore the remnants of the White Whale for resources. You can also pilot mechs similar to those from Xenogears known as Skells, some capable of transforming into vehicles.

While Monolith Soft didn’t outline all the new features in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, it promises enhanced visuals and “new story elements.” Stay tuned for further updates in the coming months.