Xenoblade Chronicles X: My First Impressions

            To start, I’m about 20 hours into the game, and I still have yet to unlock the Skells. I haven’t gotten very far into the story either, having done a lot of sidequesting and exploring. But so far, I firmly believe that Xenoblade Chronicles X is the best game to have come out this year.

            As a whole, this game feels surprisingly (and refreshingly) different from its predecessor despite keeping many gameplay elements. Instead of simply just building up on what worked in the first game with balance adjustments, Monolith Soft went above and beyond. They’ve added a lot of new mechanics that allow for much deeper character customization and battling. Environments are even more vast and beautiful than the first Xenoblade, and the game is structured to allow you to explore the continents more freely, as opposed the original game’s more linear sense of progression.

            The battle system has also been given several major enhancements. Arts now charge up again after cooldown finishes; using a fully charged art will grant bonuses depending on the art in question. Your avatar also has customizable classes, allowing them to take on any role at any time.

            Xenoblade Chronicles X also uses an entirely different soundtrack style compared to its predecessor. Some people find the battle lyrics to be bad, but I personally really enjoy the battle themes. The music really helps reinforce the fact that the game is set on a vast and strange alien planet.

            In terms of the optional stuff, this game handles quests better than the original Xenoblade. A lot of the quests you get by talking to people help build the game’s world and lore, while the fetch quests and monster slaying quests are mainly relegated to one easily accessible bulletin board. From what I’ve seen so far, this definitely fixes the issue the first game had where NPCs could give out tons of generic quests at once, forcing you to talk to them multiple times to get every single quest.

            The affinity system in this game also seems to have been improved. You now have a gauge composed of several hearts showing exactly how close you are to a particular character instead of somewhat vague icons. It also appears to be much easier to raise affinity between party members.

            Overall, I was excited for Xenoblade Chronicles X because of the badass looking Skells. But now that I’ve played the game for myself, I can definitely say that there’s more to it than that. Monolith went out of their way to make the game feel more vast and different from the first Xenoblade. The various new gameplay mechanics, while overwhelming at first, will always give hardcore RPG fans something to do. The game’s world is absolutely beautiful, and there’s tons of content to last you for a long time. Although I loved the original Xenoblade Chronicles (enough to give it a well deserved perfect score in my review), I think that Xenoblade Chronicles X exceeds its predecessor in nearly every way so far. If you love RPGs, this game is the reason to get a Wii U.