Xenoblade Chronicles

Long ago, the world was nothing more than an endless sea, cloaked in a boundless sky, reaching as far as could possibly be 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 the Bionis,
is under attack from a relentless force known as the Mechon.
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Hello and welcome to my review of Xenoblade Chronicles! I just finished this wonderful game last night and couldn't refrain from sharing my opinion and enthusiasm. Exploration, side quests, music, character interaction, we've have it all!

Xenoblade is a game made by Monolith Software, who are acclaimed for their work on their other successful Xeno-titled RPG Xenogears and Xenosaga (the former I have yet to play, the latter is my favorite PS2 RPG, bar none). This game takes a unique approach to world-building in that the world you traverse is actually the body of a titan, and the environments are shaped in such a way to give that impression, where possible. If I were to try to explain the game experience to an outsider, I suppose I might say it's like a cross between Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy XII. That may sound weird, but bear with me. What I mean is that exploration and side quests are a huge part of the game, but it's not open world like TES, but rather separate locations, like FFXII. However, these locations are HUGE and offer plenty of things to find. You encounter and fight enemies right on the field, which is what reminds me of Final Fantasy XII, but though the creator said the combat system was inspired by FFXII, the similarities pretty much end there. This is good, of course, since we want Xenoblade to be its own game, and boy, is it ever. Well, that's enough gabbing, so let's just dive right in, shall we?

STORY


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The story follows Shulk, a young man living on Colony 9, a mostly Homs (human) colony located on the Bionis' calf. He spends his time salvaging Mechon remains, inventing things, and studying a mysterious energy sword called the Monado alongside his mentor, Dickson. The Monado is strange in that no one seems able to wield it without putting their body in great danger. It left it previous user's right arm almost completely inoperable. Apart from studying this enigmatic blade, Shulk lives a peaceful life with his friends. Events unfold that lead Shulk and his friend Reyn into a nearby cave at the order of Colonel Vangarre, a.k.a. Square-tache.

Square-tache. If you're wondering if you'll ever be able
to take any scene this guy's in seriously, the answer is no.
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After accomplishing their goal, something happens back at the colony that requires them to return with all haste.

Or, if you're like me, you continue exploring and killing random wildlife. LOL What's happening at Colony 9?
Who knows? Doesn't matter. The game will wait for me to get there. In the meantime, I don't like the look this rabbit is giving me.
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That's enough synopsis, I think. All in all, this game's story is a very good one. It doesn't necessarily offer anything particularly unique; in fact, it's pretty much standard shounen anime cheesiness. Where it shines, though, is how it portrays it scenes and ideas. It may tell a standard, story, but it tells it in an excellent way that leaves an impression. I always found myself wanting to know what happens next, and the events unfold in a way that made me really care about the characters and their struggles. The story is full of twists and turns, and tons of subtle foreshadowing that you wouldn't catch on to until your second play through the game. What starts out as a simple journey to exact revenge turns into something great and epic. Along the way, you meet different sentient races, and experience beautiful new locations.

CHARACTERS


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As stated, the story presents itself in such a way that makes you feel for the characters and their hardships. The party characters do tend to be common archetypes, but they are capable of surprising you. Reyn is your usual hot-blooded guy, who protects his best friend Shulk and prefers getting his hands dirty to standing back and thinking about a situation. Things like that. What I like about this game, though, is that its side quests even made me feel for some of the NPCs, which is rare in a game. You talk to NPCs to discover relationships they have with other NPCs, and are often given quests based on those relationships. This is actually a big part of gameplay, which I will cover down the line. Suffice it to say that if you get sucked into the world of Xenoblade, and read the text of each line named NPCs have, you'll get a feel that everyone has their own lives, worries, personalities, etc. And I love that in a game. Now granted, mileage may vary here, but I enjoyed it.

Voice acting in this game is very well done, as well. Since America was originally denied Xenoblade thanks to Nintendo of America being wankers, the English version of this game was made in the UK. As a result, the voice acting is British and is a pretty refreshing change from the usual voice actors you hear in JRPGs (as much as I love Yuri Lowenthal and Johnny Yong Bosch, they're in everything). On top of that, these British actors do a really good job of delivering their lines and making the characters come alive ("It's Reyn Time!")

WORLD



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Easily one of Xenoblade's best aspects. The world is massive, imaginative, and every single area is breathtaking in it own right. This game is unique in that it takes place literally on the body of a dead titan. This gave the developers so much room for unique and inspired art direction, and by god, did they deliver. The above is a picture of the Bionis' Leg (the top of the thigh, to be precise), the second major location of the game. As you explore, you can see the curvature of the leg and how it's part of the titan as a whole. As you look up into the sky, in the distance, you can make out the Mechonis beyond some clouds, its sword forever lodged in the Bionis' side, as shown in the above picture. Every area has its own unique charm to it. Take Satorl Marsh, for instance. In the daytime, it's a dreary, foggy swamp filled with lifeless trees and poisonous bogs. But when day turns to night, you are greeted with a sight you never thought possible of this gloomy place. That fog and mist that was so eerie in the day? Yeah, it looks completely different at night. Take a look at the video below. The transition from day to night begins at around 2:50 and ends around 4:10.

[youtube]DTTWjh3JqtM[/youtube]

I mean just look at it. That visual, that song...I'll get into that more in the music section.

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There's not much more I can really say on the subject. I can only really show you pictures of different areas, but they really need to be experienced first-hand.

Eryth Sea


Great Makna Falls



GRAPHICS

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I suppose I should have made graphics and world part of the same things, but the world is such a big part of the game, I thought it deserved its own section. I'll be blunt. The graphics in this game aren't great. The textures in particular are noticeably terrible when viewed up close, which is unavoidable in some cutscenes. They look like something from an early-midlife PS2 game. I know the Wii isn't an HD console, but it is more powerful than the PS2. I can only surmise the textures look like that because the Wii has to render entire areas at once, which is impressive in scope for the Wii, so I can't fault it for that. This game is a perfect example of how art direction can trump processing limitations. The textures may be low-detail, but as I've shown you, the world and art of the game are nothing short of astounding.

While not technically a point about the graphics, one little thing I liked about the game is that every change of weapon and piece of armor you make is reflected in the characters' models. This holds true in cutscenes as well, and the game even remembers the equipment you were wearing at a specific time when it does a flashback. It's a little thing, but it's a thing I find really nifty in a game.

GAMEPLAY




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Another area where the game shines. I know I made mention that its combat system was inspired by Final Fantasy XII, and that is apparent with how you do battle right on the field. But that's honestly where the similarities end. Xenoblade's combat system is deeper than that of FFXII in general. When in battle, your characters auto-attack at set intervals unless they use an art, which is like a special attack with different effects. These arts run on cooldown timers not unlike Mass Effect 1. Positioning is important for many characters. Shulk, for example, has an attack that lowers the opponent's defense if it hits from the side, and another that doubles its damage when he attacks from behind. There's also a trio of status effects that are pretty important: Break, Topple, and Daze. When you hit an enemy with an art that puts them in Break, that leaves them open to be hit with a Topple art. When toppled, the enemy can't attack and you do extra damage to it. If you hit it with a Daze art while Toppled, they get frozen in place (and the timer for topple stops while it's dazed, too), and it doesn't gain any aggro for the duration of Daze. It's kind of hard to explain. Like many things in the combat system, it's better experienced than explained. Xenoblade doesn't have the custom AI gambit system from FFXII, for better or worse. Sometimes your party members can be dunces in battle (looking at you, Shulk. I needed you to use Purge ages ago, but no, keep spamming Speed while we kill ourselves with spike damage).

Another huge part of gameplay are the side-quests. There's so many side-quests. The count totals at over 400. As I said before, many of these side-quests are used to flesh out the world and its inhabitants. My main gripe, though, is that 9 times out of 10, these quests amount to little more than "collect this many things," "kill this many of this monster," "find this one thing," or "kill this unique monster." A little more variety would have been appreciated, but what can you do? It's also worth noting that if you do every single side-quest when it becomes available, it's pretty easy to lose your grasp on the story if your memory is bad. Not doing quests, though, can leave you high and dry late in the game and leave you without access to quests that grant you skill trees, powerful weapons, armor, etc. So it's really about finding a balance between playing the story and doing side quests. Most quests can be available at any time, so there's really no rush to get them done. The only quests you need to look out for are the ones with a clock on them. That means they're timed and will be unavailable after certain story events. Of course, the game doesn't tell you which events to look out for, so you'd need to consult outside resources to know (the Xenoblade wiki is a wonderful resource).

All-in-all, because I found the world, music, and combat system so fun, I didn't mind doing the side-quests, but I fully admit it's up to personal taste.

MUSIC​

Ah, the music. There really isn't much I can say about this game's wonderful soundtrack. Every area has 2 different songs that play depending on whether it's day or night, and they always perfectly fit the feel of the area. This game's soundtrack is one of my favorites in recent memory, and is one of the biggest highlights of Xenoblade. My two favorite tracks are as different from each other as they could possibly be. The first is one of the boss songs. The game uses it for battles against unique monsters and particularly intense boss battles in the story, and it's just the thing to get me pumped and excited. The second song is one of the most serene and beautiful songs I've ever heard in a video game. It's the song that plays in Satorl Marsh during the night, perfectly complemented by the visuals I showed you in the video in the World section.

[youtube]ooZyHLLQ5e8[/youtube]

Aww yeaahhhh! Let's do this ****!

[youtube]75YyJ9FQnMI[/youtube]

Damn it, who cut all these onions?

CONCLUSION
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So, in conclusion, if you like RPGs and have a Wii, you owe to yourself to try this game out. From the story, to the music, to the art, to the world, to the characters, to the battle system (to the left, to the right, make noise!), this game has it all. I'm fully aware that this game isn't for everyone, though. The massive amount of side quests can put a hamper on the pacing, but the good thing is that you're in control of how many side quests you do and when. All things considered, I'd highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys RPGs. There's not really much more I can say other than this game is a blast.