Xenoblade Chronicles remains a Great JRPG

Xenoblade Chronicles hit North America back in April 2012, after a lengthy fan campaign called Operation Rainfall pushed for its import. Being a Wii owner from launch, I was yearning for a great JRPG. The system had few and far between. The hype Xenoblade Chronicles was receiving was enough to send me to EBGames for a pre-order.

For those balking at the mention of pre-order, this system is meant for games like Xenoblade Chronicles. Small genre titles need pre-orders to guarantee sales. Call of Duty doesn’t, they’re shipping hundreds to each store regardless of pre-order numbers. I could go on, but that’s a topic for another article.

Xenoblade Chronicles instantly became my favorite Wii game of all time. When the sequel was announced for the WiiU, I bought one just to experience the sequel. I wanted a Switch when it was announced, but Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s announcement is what guaranteed my purchase.  Xenoblade sells me on systems.

After playing through the newest title in series, Torna, I decided to replay the original. 65 hours and I was done. It’s a massive undertaking, and I didn’t complete half its side content. Completing all side quests would easily take 100+ hours to accomplish. I’m not a completionist. I went into this wondering if Xenoblade Chronicles stacks up next to Torna. Let’s find out.

Bionis and Mechonis – Exploring giants

“Long ago, the world was nothing more than an endless sea cloaked in a boundless sky, reaching as far as could possibly imagined. Then two great titans came into existence: the Bionis and the Mechonis. The titans were locked in a timeless battle. Until at last, only their lifeless corpses remained. Eons have passed. Now, our world, this vast land stretching across the remains of Bionis, is under attack from a relentless force known as the Mechon” – Shulk

Traveling across the Bionis’ massive body makes for incredible views. The Guar Plain, extending up the Bionis thigh, is a lush valley filled with wildlife. The Aryth Sea extends over the Bionis’ back, with its massive head just visible over the horizon. Every area is designed to be a believable world environment, while never letting you forget its part of a giant creature. Bionis is easily the most incredible environment in any JRPG I’ve ever played.

Making the world far more interesting, is the second giant, Mechonis, looming in the distance. The Homs of Bionis have long fought against the Mechon, unsure of why these robotic creatures attack them. Tying the world design to the central conflict driving the plot is brilliant. The enemy lives on a massive creature that died with its sword in Bionis’ side. The visuals reinforce the plot structure and motivations of the stories heroes. Even if the world weren’t beautiful and full of places to explore, that setup alone would make it interesting.

Quest for Revenge – Shulk and the Monado

The plot begins in typical JRPG fashion, with an attack on our hero’s home; Colony 9. Shulk and the Homs are enjoying a year of peace following the Battle of Sword Valley. A peace capable due to the discovery of a new weapon capable of defeating the Mechon, a sword called the Monado. The Monado can cut through Mechon armor like nothing else in existence.

The peace ends when the Mechon attack Colony 9, killing many people, including somebody very dear to Shulk. Taking up the Monado, Shulk sets out for revenge. Traveling across Bionis, he gathers friends who join the party. Each character brings a new reason to fight against the Mechon, eventually growing the story far beyond the initial revenge motivation.

Shulk and friends soon discover Bionis is home to more than the Homs. The Nopon are little forest dwellers, who send their heropon Rikki to join Shulk’s quest. While traversing the Nopon jungle, they encounter a young woman named Melia. They mistake her for a Homs, but soon it’s revealed she’s Princess of the High Entia. A race with bird-like properties and far advanced technology. Eventually all the people of Bionis unite against their enemies.

The enemies are another major element to Xenoblade Chronicles’ amazing game experience. The Mechon aren’t faceless monsters. They have personalities, goals, and emotional responses. Each of them are motivated by different things, but in the end they’re all believable characters. Making the enemy three dimensional adds a layer of depth to the storytelling that videogames can often lack. There is no evil for evil’s sake.

Reyn and Rikki – surprising character depth

Reyn and Rikki are not my favourite characters, but they are the most memorable. Each begins as a simple archetype, and develops into rounded character as the story progresses. They stand out as examples of the game’s storytelling ability.

Reyn is Shulk’s oldest friend, and he’s been protecting Shulk since they were kids. Bigger and stronger, Reyn is the party’s initial Tank. Fighting the Mechon, Reyn is always there to protect Shulk…until he doesn’t need protection anymore. Shulk’s ability to use the Monado gives him incredible strength and powers, which leaves Reyn wondering about his purpose on the team. If Shulk doesn’t need him for protection, why is he there?  It’s rare to see a JRPG side character suffer an identity crisis. Of course he gets a pep-talk and secures his doubts by acting as Shulk’s second set of eyes. “Nobody can watch their own back.” It’s over quickly, but the storyline is interesting in an JRPG.

Rikki is likely to be a more controversial example. Many fans hate Rikki, considering him the worst part of the whole game. His high-pitched voice is often grating, and at first he’s a bumbling idiot. Thankfully, his introduction doesn’t spell the end of his character development. Soon enough we learn Rikki’s been forced to join the team to pay off his debt back home. He’s doing it not for himself, but to support his family. Wife and children are counting on him.

Rikki the father is a fun twist, and that aspect to his character comes up again. Late in the game, the party is split. Rikki, Dunban, and Melia are wandering alone and exhausted after a battle. Rikki insists they stop for food and rest, or he will die. The others agree, and Rikki immediately sets out fishing and preparing food. Dunban notices he’s got a lot of energy for one about to die of starvation. In a nice moment, Rikki reveals he played the fool so they would stop, because Melia needed the rest. She’s too stubborn to stop for herself, so he acts the father and does it for her.

Character moments like these are a large part of Xenoblade Chronicles’ story appeal. Characters make unexpected decisions, and reveal interesting new traits, without once feeling unearned. There are huge twists to this game, but they’re not the lynch pin the story rests upon. They are big turns, but they feel natural as they occur.

Graphics and Sound – Artistic intent trumps technological ability

The Wii was notoriously under powered upon release. Xenoblade Chronicles runs in low-res 480p if you’re using a component cable, or HDMI if you’re playing it on a WiiU. Either way, the game looks very fuzzy on modern HDTVs. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but seven years on it looks even worse. Imagine watching James Cameron’s Avatar through Coke bottles, and you have a sense of the problem.

The worst part of this is the art design is incredible. The world looks amazing. The characters are interesting. Even the 3D models are strong enough to hold up against anything from the last generation. The problem is the low-resolution washes it all out. The interesting work on screen is smeared away.

There is a solution to this graphical problem. The Dolphin emulator on PC plays Wii games at 4K resolution. My PC only managed 1080p, but it was more than enough to make the game infinitely better. Fan created HD texture packs were an added bonus. Suddenly the low-res 2D elements looked great on my HDTV. The enhancements help the art design pop. Everything is crisp and the art style is vibrant. This isn’t about graphic snobbery, it’s about seeing amazing artwork hidden under bad technology.

Thankfully the audio design doesn’t suffer the same fate as the graphics. UK voice actors bring a diversity of accents to the characters. Hearing so many different speaking styles enhances the multicultural narrative at play. I never found myself sick of hearing a character speak during cut scenes. Even Rikki manages to be charming despite his slightly shriller vocal tone. It’s not the same level as Metal Gear Solid, but it’s a damned fine effort.

Better than the voice acting is the music. Xenoblade Chronicles is scored by Manami Kiyota, Yoko Shimomura, ACE+ and Yasunori Mitsuda. Each environment is matched with a perfect track that sells the mood of each level. Gaur plains is an upbeat song driving player’s forward into adventure. Satori Marsh is calm and mysterious track, perfect for exploring a mist filled marshland. I can’t point to a single bad track in the score. I can tell you the best track is the battle theme, “You will know our Names.” Electric guitar blasts when a battle starts up. The song’s energy matches the real-time combat. There’s a flow to battle that the music matches perfectly, without once becoming tiresome.

Combat – Managing Arts and Armor

Xenoblade Chronicles’ uses a real-time battle system where the players controls a single main character. Who they control is up to the player. Shulk is the default, but you could prefer Reyn, Melia or any of the other party members. Later in the game switching characters is strategically important, as some will have advantages over certain foes. Learning when to swap can be the distinction between victory and defeat.

Basic physical attacks are handled automatically if the character is within range of the enemy. Player action focuses on special moves, called Arts. Each has its own cool down timer. This prevents spamming attacks, and forces strategic thinking. Healing, support spells, magic and physical attacks make up the different Arts. Combining Arts is essential to winning a battle.

Shulk’s the easiest example of how to combine arts. His defense stats are mediocre, so he’s most effective when another character is the enemy’s focus. This focus is called Agro. His Shadow Eye art reduces agro and increases the effectiveness of his next physical art. Using Shadow Eye to sneak behind the enemy, then use Back Slash. It’s extra effective when used behind the enemies back, and more effective when buffed by Shadow Eyes physical attack boost. This is the first combo most players will learn.

Besides your main character, the combat team consists of two AI controller teammates. The player can decide which two characters will battle beside them. Knowing these characters is essential to victory, especially since Arts combine across characters.

Shulk’s Stream Edge inflicts Break. Break allows other characters to use an art that inflicts Topple, knocking the enemy over and preventing them from attacking. Shulk has no Topple move, so playing as Shulk requires partnering with a character who does to complete the combination. It gets even more complicated, as Shulk’s Shaker Edge stuns enemies who are Toppled. This brings the combo back to him.

Each character has access to a lot of different Arts as they level up.  Each Art has different capabilities, and pair well with different characters. Knowing which Arts combine best requires practice, but its well worth it. Making it more interesting is that each Art can be leveled up, so the moves become stronger and cool down faster. Level up Arts that combine for more effective combos.

Character customization continues with weapons, armor and accessories. This includes gems that modify that can be added to accessories to augment your stats. Using the right equipment and gems can turn your party into an unbeatable force. Finishing the game without diving into this element is possible, but the experience will be a lot more difficult. If you don’t like testing out character setups, Google suggestions online. Great setups are easy to find, but nothing beats figuring out your own.

Xenoblade is rough around the edges

To this point my retrospective look at Xenoblade Chronicles has been glowing, but the game is flawed. This isn’t only clear by looking back with the lens of time. Xenoblade had problems when it launched. To be fair in representing this game, I need to address those issues.

Bionis is a breathtaking world at times, but can also feel empty. The Wii hardware couldn’t handle the massive enrolments if they were packed to the brim with creatures and content. The lack of processing power means you’ll find yourself crossing large open areas with nothing much inside them. The overall impression is lovely, but hollow. This gets more apparent as the game progresses and reaches its peak on Mechonis.

Mechonis contains my favorite environment in the entire game. It’s name is a spoiler, so I won’t go into detail, but it is filled with interesting areas to explore and fun visual elements. Mechonis also contains my least favorite area, a massive interior structure that quickly becomes mind numbingly repetitive in his look.

The lack of content in areas is not a game breaker, but must be pointed out. Anybody expecting an open world filled to the brim with content, like Breath of the Wild, Assassin’s Creed or even Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be disappointed. The game’s age and hardware limits reflect in the open world design.

While exploring these massive open areas, there are tons of side quests to keep you busy. Lack of content isn’t a problem for the game, but organizing and completing quests is. Items are represented in the world by glowing blue orbs, which are all indistinguishable from each other, and tons of quests are based on collecting multiple items. This setup makes locating items very difficult. It often boils down to luck rather than skill in locating anything. 

Tracking which quests remain uncompleted, and who initiated the quest is another problem. Some quests require the player to return to the quest giver, but without a clear indicator of where they are, this tests the memory. I’d sometimes find myself stumbling upon an item, and unsure of who to return to, so the quest never finished. Side quests are optional, but if this is your favorite part of a JRPG, go in knowing it’s a barely functional system.

Questing and exploration is worsened by the terrible direction system. Often there’s a marker for the next main quest trigger spot, but it’s incredibly vague. The marker provides the direction and distance, but there’s no indicating of the proper route to reach it. On more than one occasion I found myself wandering in the totally wrong direction, because I trusted the pointer too much. Focus on the environment design instead and you’ll fare better.

For side quests, there are no markers on the HUD at all. Some quests will leave marks on your map, but that’s infrequent. The lack of direction for questing encourages exploration, but also drags everything out. Rather than fostering a sense of wonder or adventure, the quests devolve into frustrating item hunts that are quickly dismissed for a fun bout of combat then back to the main quest.

Xenoblade Chronicles – All right! I’m feeling it!

Xenoblade Chronicles has its problems, and most were noticeable during the initial release of the game. The quest tracker and direction system were always terrible. The graphics were low-resolution compared to anything on 360 or PS3. These were issues back in 2012, and they remain issues now.

However, I cannot stress enough that those issues do not diminish the accomplishments of Xenoblade Chronicles. As a JRPG, it gets the major elements of the genre right. Battles are strategic and engaging, never growing old through dozens upon dozens of gameplay hours. The plot and characters are complex, weaving a narrative well worth the journey. The world itself is breath taking and mostly a joy to explore, just stick to largely the main quest.

Xenoblade Chronicles has received multiple sequels. The latest, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the Nintendo Switch, has sold extremely well. Monolithsoft’s JRPG series isn’t going anywhere after its latest success. The newest titles have improved the flaws from this first attempt, making for smoother gameplay experience. Despite those upgrades, playing the original remains a worthwhile gaming experience. Join Shulk and friends as they seek revenge on the Mechon.