NO SPOILERS.
Xenoblade Chronicles is a game that defied the odds to rise up to greater heights than anyone could have fathomed. Released in 2010 in Japan and developed by MonolithSoft as the latest in Tetsuya Takahashi's collection of RPGs with the Xeno- prefix, this game was the culmination of years of experience and lessons learned from the other Xeno- games. The game launched on the Wii and was one of the first big name RPGs to be released after Final Fantasy XIII famously eschewed traditional exploration for a more streamlined experience, and Xenoblade was a sign that big sprawling adventures could still be made. The game stars Shulk, a young engineer who sets out on a journey to eradicate the Mechon, a robotic army that laid seige to his hometown, armed with the Monado, a mysterious sword that's the only hope the Homs have to stand a fighting chance against the Mechon.
The game was a modest success in Japan, but it seemed that it would see the same fate as Mother 3, as Nintendo of America opted not to localize the title, expecting poor returns for the high investment that they would have had to make to produce the game. Nintendo of Europe took on the title in NoA's stead, but despite this, the game was still denied release on American shores. It took a massive fan-petition, Operation Rainfall, along with an exclusivity deal with GameStop, for NoA to relent and finally release the game stateside. The game enjoyed a lot of positive buzz from very passionate fans and enthusiasts, but the exclusivity deal with GameStop was a striking blow to the game's overall availability; the game released in 2012, about half a year before the Wii U would launch, and GameStop had free reign to sell all of their copies as used with a higher price. Despite everything riding against it, Xenoblade seemed to be a smashing success in the states, enough so that Nintendo would continue to invest in more Xenoblade titles to build a franchise. The game was successful enough to warrant its main protagonist, Shulk, joining the roster of Super Smash Brothers for Wii U and 3DS! Then, in 2015, Nintendo was gearing up to launch the newest iteration of their 3DS line of handhelds, the New 3DS, which touted better specs, head-tracking 3D, a full compliment of four shoulder buttons and a C-nub thing to be used as a second stick for games that warranted it. Alongside the announcement of the New 3DS, Nintendo unveiled Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, a port of the Wii original to the smaller handheld. Developed by Monster Games, who had also done the Donkey Kong Country Returns port to 3DS, XBC3D was a game that could punch well above its weight class in bringing the grand console adventure to the smaller handheld. Monster Games had to create a new graphics engine and rebuild all of the environments to ensure the game ran smoothly, but the game ran far better than it had any right to and was an amazing technical success. Unfortunately, as the headliner for a mid-generation console upgrade, it did not do as well as it could have. The next release would be the original Wii version on the Wii U eShop, which should speak for itself.
Which brings us to the Switch release, the Definitive Edition; Nintendo had tapped Monolith to assist with the development of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, having helped out with the original BotW's development years before. Not wanting the staff that wasn't assisting BotW's development to sit around doing nothing, the rest of Monolith began a smaller-scale project to bring the original Xenoblade to life in HD. Built on the engine created for Xenoblade Chronicles 2, XBC: DE boasts enhanced visuals, an updated artstyle, remastered music, a streamlined user interface and many quality-of-life improvements across the board, making this the best way to experience this game. In addition to the enhanced original game, there's a new epilogue chapter, Future Connected, that teases future developments for the series and wraps up some character arcs in the original story.
This will be an informative LP where I show off the main story and as much content as I can manage. I'm joined by my usual co-commentator, Jobbo_Fett, who's going in blind. We're also joined by Artix, who has played about half of this game, and Nine Gear Crow, who has completed this game and is able to serve as a secondary source of knowledge in case I drop the ball on anything. Videos will hopefully go out Mondays and Thursdays, but no promises. I will reiterate, Jobbo is going in blind, so no spoilers. None. Anything seen in updates is fair game, but none of that wink-wink-nudge-nudge stuff going on.
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
Chapter 05
Chapter 06
Chapter 07
Chapter 08
Chapter 09
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Future Connected
