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.

Final Fantasy 15 – Regalia Type F

While it’s fun to explore the world of Eos by casually driving around, you’ll want something faster and more convenient when the story is over. The Regalia Type F is the perfect answer – it’s unlocked by clearing three Imperial bases (the third base has a recommended level of 46 but it’s better to do it after finishing the story). Though it can’t be used for exploring the sea and needs a road to land on, this pseudo-airship is fast and doesn’t require fuel, which is a nice bonus.

Yami – Okami

The battle with Amaterasu’s archenemy Yami plays out over five different phases. Yami’s first form is akin to a sphere with an intricate glowing red design that can lash out with tendrils and launch missiles. Its second form takes on a greenish appearance which segregates into platforms and can use fire to attack. Hilariously, it becomes a kind of slot machine for its third phase while its fourth form is a yellow sphere that has legs and arms. All of this culminates in a giant claw extending from the sphere while the arena is covered in darkness, missiles and lasers.

THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD

Let’s begin with the most obvious choice. Breath of the Wild is the poster child of games with groundbreaking exploration. It has the regular stuff going for it, of course, which is a massive world full of beautiful and varied sights to see, which it props up with its excellent traversal loop of climbing and gliding. What really sets it apart, however, is the sheer brilliance of its emergent gameplay, which never ceases to surprise with its reactivity.

Mass Effect 3

Picking up after the fallout of Mass Effect 2’s Arrival DLC, Mass Effect 3 sees Commander Shepard summoned by the Alliance. Not long after, Vancouver – and the Earth as a whole – is overwhelmed by Reaper forces. Things quickly devolve into a fight for survival as Anderson reinstates Shepard to fight back. So many key moments dictated this intro, from the effortless destruction of a cruiser to Shepard’s encounter with a boy who then seemingly perishes during an evacuation. The pain of leaving Earth behind, coupled with the outstanding music score, sets the player up for an emotional journey.

As the Xenoblade Chronicles series celebrates its 10th anniversary, it’s an interesting franchise to reflect back upon. There’s now been three different games and one major standalone expansion encompassing it, and all three are very distinct in their look and tone. If you want to even get deeper in the weeds, the sames are also part of a spiritual lineage to Xenogears and the Xenosaga franchise, where they share a variety of themes and imagery. What connects them all? Well, it seems it’s less about the story and more about the world you are in.

In an interview with VG24/7, Writer and Director Tetsuya Takahashi was asked what it was that made a “Xeno” game. There he said that while there are some familiar story beats and characters, for him the true connection is the immersive worlds the game encompasses and how it aims to suck players in. He acknowledges there is some more direct connection (those who have played through Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 are aware of that), but it seems for him the focus is more of a spiritual connection of shared ideas and those direct story connections can be changed.

“The stories and characters that appear in the Xenoblade Chronicles series vary with each entry, but the same concept is shared among them all; it is players immersing themselves in the game world, and freely walking around and adventuring in it. Maybe it would be better to rephrase and say that the concept is to get players to want to remain in the game world. We’ve kept this concept unchanged since Xenogears, although the Xenosaga series might be the only one of these series that doesn’t follow that concept.

“From the beginning, each entry in the Xenoblade Chronicles series has depicted a single episode within the flow of a larger time and space. So they are, at their roots, closely connected with each other, but we’re flexible with changing the means and ways in which we depict this in each entry.

“Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are like two sides of the same coin which might be why it feels like the connection between them seems to be particularly standing out.”

The latest entry in the series, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is available now for Nintendo Switch. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and its expansion are also on the Switch, with Xenoblade Chronicles X still only currently on the Wii U.

It’s funny to think how life can go sometimes. Take the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise, for instance. At one point in time, the original game released on the Wii and was never meant to leave Japan. After much fan petitioning, it finally did come westward in a very limited fashion, but has since grown to the point that developer Monolith Soft now is posed to focus on expanding the now successful RPG brand. It’s a Nintendo franchise that almost wasn’t, and today we got a treat to celebrate that.

The official Japanese Twitter posted a celebration tweet to commemorate the series’ 10th anniversary. In it came a new piece of art that shows the main characters of Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles X together. You can check that out below.

Both Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are available currently on the Switch (with the first game just having a Definitive Edition release last month). Xenoblade Chronicles X is currently only available on the Wii U, though I imagine that will probably change sooner rather than later.

『ゼノブレイド』がWiiで発売されてから、今日でちょうど10年が経つんですも！
これからも「ゼノブレイド」シリーズを、どうぞよろしくお願いしますも！#ゼノブレイド #ゼノブレイドクロス #ゼノブレイド2 pic.twitter.com/4JjL0tgpf4

— ゼノブレイド総合 (@XenobladeJP) June 10, 2020

Do keep in mind, that though it’s natural to assume that when we talk about big game maps, we might be talking about open world games only- but that’s not the case. Whether its an open world game, or an open ended game that’s not particularly open world, or a huge map that we’ve seen in multiplayer play- it’s all fair game for this list. Also, do keep in mind that randomly generated maps were not considered for this feature.

A final note before we begin- there’s every possibility that we might have missed out on some game you were expecting to see on this list, and if we did, it’s either because the exact sizes of their maps aren’t known to us, or because we simply forgot! If it’s the former, and you know what the sizes are, please tell us! If it’s the latter, please remind us.

So without further ado, let’s jump into it.

#50. ASSASSIN’S CREED UNITY

The open world action by developers Ubisoft has its fair share of issues, sure, but its world is one aspect that can’t be faulted. It’s a joy to explore, and it’s also pretty big. At about 2.4 km2, there’s more than enough space in this virtual world to explore and lose yourself in.

The original Xenoblade Chronicles on Wii is widely considered to be one of the best role playing games of all time, and has since been made available on 3DS and Wii U for people to play. Xenoblade Chroncles 2 launched on the Switch, and ended up becoming Monolith Soft’s most successful game ever.

In all of this, however, Xenoblade Chronicles X, the science fiction open world spin off Monolith released for the Wii U, seems to have been overshadowed, which is a crying shame. Xenoblade Chronicles X was very unique, with a gorgeous and mysterious open world, and a further iteration on the series’ signature battle system. It even had online functionality, and ended on a hell of a cliffhanger. More people should get to play it.

But it may not ever come to Switch, sadly. Speaking to US Gamer, series producer Tetsuya Takahashi noted that while he would love a Switch port, it would be very difficult to make it happen, citing money considerations when prompted as to why.

“Personally speaking, I’d love to play the game on the Switch, but it would be really difficult to make it,” he said. “[Because of] money! It’s a massive game. Re-creating it would be really difficult.”

I get where he is coming from, especially given that the game may not necessarily do as well as Xenoblade Chronicles 2 did, which would make it an unviable investment. Still, I hope that it is brought over to the Switch all the same. It’s far too good to get lost to time with the Wii U.