Xenoblade Chronicles – Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is an expanded remaster of the original game and was announced in September 2019 during a Nintendo Direct presentation. It includes enhanced visuals, remastered music, an updated user interface, and other quality-of-life improvements, such as utilizing an art style and graphics similar to Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It also includes a new epilogue scenario titled Future Connected, set one year after the main game’s events and focuses on Melia. It was released worldwide for the Nintendo Switch on 29 May 2020. Discover the origins of Shulk as he and his companions clash against a seemingly-unstoppable mechanical menace.

Wield a future-seeing blade, chain together attacks, and carefully position your party members in strategic, real-time combat as you journey across a massive world. During an attack from the mechanical invaders known as the Mechon, Shulk discovers that he can tap into the full power of a mysterious blade known as the Monado. With the mighty Monado in hand, Shulk sets out to defeat the Mechon once and for all. In addition to the Mechon, you’ll run into wildlife that ranges from docile to deadly. Keep an eye on what attracts monsters’ attention to avoid unwanted conflict…or try your hand at bringing down an ultra-powerful Unique Monster.

Upgrade your party as you progress through the adventure by selecting equipment, enhancing weapon skills, and using benefit-granting gems. Put your dependable companions to work by filling the party gauge to trigger a Chain Attack and attack enemies in quick succession! Xenoblade Chronicles is an action role-playing video game (RPG), in which the player controls one character out of a party of three using the Wii Remote and Nunchuk or the Classic Controller. The game employs an open world design, where players can freely navigate seamlessly interconnected environments. 

The game has a day-and-night time cycle, which often affects in-game events, quests, enemy strength, and item availability: for instance, stronger enemy types appear at night. While time flows automatically and a day cycle repeats about every ten minutes in real time, players can adjust the in-game clock to the desired time at any point. Additionally, while the game is about exploration, areas called “Landmarks” aid in traversing the land by serving as warp points that allow the player to instantly return to that point at any time. The game also supports a “save anywhere” feature, where players can save at any point outside of battle. 

The game has a New Game+ mode, which maintains much of the player’s progress from their initial playthrough into future playthroughs. Exploration, quest completion, and item collection are large parts of the gameplay. The player is encouraged to explore the large environments, which generally allow them to visit whatever can be seen on the horizon. While exploring, the player can take on side quests from various non-player characters that inhabit the game’s world, which commonly involve obtaining certain items or killing a certain number of enemy characters.

When the necessary requirements are fulfilled, some quests are completed automatically without the player having to return to the quest giver. Item collection plays a role in the game in the form of the “Collectopaedia”. Scattered across the game are glowing blue orbs, and upon collecting them, the player is awarded with a random item that they can add to the Collectopaedia; when a certain number are collected, the player is rewarded with new items. Aside from the Collectopaedia, ether crystals can be obtained from fallen enemies or ether crystal deposits, which are used in the “Gem Crafting” mini-game to craft gems that offer various benefits when equipped.