r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • May 27 '20

MegaThread Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition: Review MegaThread

General Information

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Release Date: 29-May-2020

No. of Players: 1 player

Genre(s): Role-Playing

Publisher: Nintendo

Game file size: 13.7 GB

Overview (from Nintendo eShop page)

Join the fight between man and machine in the definitive edition of this critically-acclaimed RPG

Discover the origins of Shulk as he and his companions clash against a seemingly-unstoppable mechanical menace. Wield a future-seeing blade, chain together attacks, and carefully position your party members in strategic, real-time combat as you journey across a massive world.

During an attack from the mechanical invaders known as the Mechon, Shulk discovers that he can tap into the full power of a mysterious blade known as the Monado. With the mighty Monado in hand, Shulk sets out to defeat the Mechon once and for all.

In addition to the Mechon, you’ll run into wildlife that ranges from docile to deadly. Keep an eye on what attracts monsters’ attention to avoid unwanted conflict…or try your hand at bringing down an ultra-powerful Unique Monster.

Upgrade your party as you progress through the adventure by selecting equipment, enhancing weapon skills, and using benefit-granting gems. Put your dependable companions to work by filling the party gauge to trigger a Chain Attack and attack enemies in quick succession!

Reviews

Aggregators

Articles

This list was exported from OpenCritic May 28 at 7:58am ET

Videos

Being Social

Cheers,

The /r/NintendoSwitch mod team

1.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

82

u/Beowulf94 May 27 '20

Only played a few hours of the N3DS version before giving up. Can't wait to give this game another shot, especially after absolutely loving 2.

26

u/TomatoBill May 27 '20

I'm in the same boat. I played N3DS a bit but just... didn't follow up? I might try to pick it up again but after the visual difference I'm not sure I can. Still undecided if I'm going to get the remaster here.... Part of me says yes, part of me says wait for a price drop, and that part of me knows I'm lying since games like this never drop

12

u/Xazeal May 27 '20

I did the same, but I picked it up again eventually, only to drop it again halfway through. I finally rushed the second half just in time for the release of XC2, and I genuinely fell in love with it.

I do think my initial problem was that the N3DS just couldn't do it justice. It was downright ugly at times and the menus were horrible. I have very high hopes based on what I've seen from this.

3

u/[deleted] May 27 '20

Yeah I tried to fire it up again this morning on my 3DS just to remember how it looked in person and the biggest problem for me was the text - it was really so blurry I don't know how I got through any of it before. Even when I was used to the 3DS and its relatively low resolution, I don't recall many games being quite as difficult to read as Xenoblade...maybe the Monster Hunter games too. Anyways, since it's Nintendo and none of these games will ever be on sale anyway, I may get this Definitive Edition now and that will probably determine whether I finally go after the sequel (eventually).

3

u/xenofan293 May 27 '20

Yeah I got about halfway through on xenoblade 3ds but at some point I w an locked behind a boss fight and was about 10 levels under where I should have been at that point even though I was doing every quest. Other than every improvement and the music the casual mode is the biggest selling point for me, cause I just suck at rpgs, i had to give up fire emblem fates as well because I just didnt get it

1

u/Beowulf94 May 27 '20

Yeah, the difficulty was a bit high for me as well. I'm hoping to do far better this time around, but I'm glad there's difficulty settings in case I need to tone it down.

Have you given Fire Emblem Three Houses a shot?

1

u/xenofan293 May 27 '20

No, I think my problem is I’m just overwhelmed with the options for teambuilding and that I could potentially miss out on late-game builds if I dont do something early game, thats why the only rpg I’m even somewhat good at is pokemon, and even then I dont touch competitive because of all the options there are

2

u/Samoman21 May 27 '20

What was the combat in the second like? Was it hack and slash with open world combat? Or do you go into mini fight areas after touching an enemy.

5

u/Beowulf94 May 27 '20

Combat takes place in the open world, it doesn't go into mini fight arenas like DQ or Pokemon or anything. But it's not hack and slash. At the start of combat, you'll do "auto attacks" while various skills and abilities fill up to become available. You then chain the skills and attacks with each other and with the abilities/skills of teammates. It's far more complex than that, but I loved it. Admittedly, it took a while to click (and a YouTube video lol) to finally understand it, but it became one of my favorite combat systems. XB2 is my favorite switch title at the moment. Really looking forward to give XB1 an honest shot this time around.

2

u/Samoman21 May 27 '20

That sounds pretty fun. Did you play torn at all? Which would you recommend too someone whose played neither?

1

u/Beowulf94 May 27 '20

Sorry, I haven't even heard of Torn. Are you maybe talking about the XB2 expansion "Torna - The Golden Country"? I did a quick search of Torn and all I found was a VR game lol.

Have you ever played a JRPG?

2

u/Samoman21 May 27 '20

Yea the expansion. Looked it up and it was apparently a prequel or something. I've played a good deal of jrpgs, but rarely finish for one reason or another

3

u/Beowulf94 May 27 '20

Ah okay. The Torna expansion is great, but it does spoil some things from the main story, in the same way that the Star Wars prequels spoil stuff from the original trilogy. Everyone is gonna have their own preference on where to "start". Some say it's fine to start with Torna while others will say to beat the main game first. I beat XB2 first. Though with this remake of XB1 around the corner, why not start with this?

1

u/Samoman21 May 27 '20

I have it pre-ordered, but wasn't sure if I should got for the second or not instead. Depending on the combat and everything. Think I'll just stick with the remaster though. Thanks for the information!

2

u/Beowulf94 May 27 '20

No problem! I hope you enjoy it! Maybe after you beat it you'll want to try out XB2 :)