Review at a glance
The result? What was once a game of unintuitive systems is now strong enough to rival nearly every RPG that has come out in the past decade, giving the excellent story, characters and world the original already had a chance to shine brighter than ever before.
The best thing about Xenoblade Chronicles is the sublime story and presentation. The downright awful accents and campy dialogue almost make this game what it is, lending it an endlessly endearing charm.
If only the developers could have tightened up the overwhelming side content, the game would’ve been ‘right as Reyn…’ get it?
Combat is fast and remains fun… “Let’s not lose our heads, though!” / Nintendo/Monolith
A lot of people might’ve missed this game on its first release, or were put off by the unintuitive mechanics. Now that these issues have been addressed, this definitive edition is the only way to experience Xenoblade.
You’d be forgiven for thinking this is an MMORPG. It plays extremely similarly to Final Fantasy XI and takes beats from Final Fantasy XII with its combat, just utilising position-based combat instead of a more tactical ATB.
The subquests are crippling
The MMO comparisons don’t end there either, because nearly every NPC has a quest for you, with some offering multiple in one go. But herein lies the greatest problem with Xenoblade.
It’s a sign of how outdated the original game is when you consider that adding a proper quest tracker and minimap icons (like they have) is groundbreaking for this game.
While this is sure to be one of the biggest selling points for fans of the original, it is impossible to overstate just how many utterly pointless quests there are.
All the sidequests, bar a few, offer nothing but sub-par equipment (which you can just as easily buy or find) or some experience and money (which you can easily farm). Only the challenge battle quests are really worth your time.
It is hard to overstate just how much the graphics have been improved / Nintendo/Monolith
All the inane quests are without a doubt the worst part about Xenoblade, throwing the pacing off completely and grinding everything great about the story to a halt. A lot of the time you’ll be pointlessly trudging back and forth, retracing your steps to grab one more item or kill …….
Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/gaming/xenoblade-chronicles-review-nintendo-switch-a4454501.html