Patience Needed And Rewarded For ‘Xenoblade Chronicles X’

Xenoblade Chronicles was a highly under-appreciated game. It came out for the Wii and was an amazing JRPG that introduced new gameplay elements, interesting characters, and breathtaking environments. If you haven’t played the game I highly suggest you do. So how do you follow up a game like it? By adding mechs.

Xenoblade Chronicles X has the story start off with humanity fleeing into outer space, only to get caught in the middle of an alien war. What comes after is a crash landing on an alien world and a tale of survival. Interesting concept, however, at the times the story can be meh at best. I didn’t find myself that engaged or caring much for the characters. While cutscenes do show the plot through amazing cinematics that made me feel like I was watching Gundam at parts, some parts bored me with mediocre conversation.

Despite the story the open world is actually amazing. It was thrilling just seeing this world filled with monsters of varying sizes, from insects to gigantic brontosaurus-looking alien dinosaurs, to even flying serpent creatures. The fact you can traverse this vast world was impressive, and I love being able to explore around. With that said one thing that kind of bugged me is how it didn’t seem “real.” What I mean by this is that these creatures never interact. They all just live here till you engage them or they engage you. Same goes for New Los Angeles, as at times it seems kind of lifeless and dull.

Quests sadly are also a mix of good and bad. Some quests are awesome and send you off to kill certain targets, but some quests are really dull fetch quests. But the world is very expansive, so you can go off and endlessly fight to level up and grind your way up the ladder. As you level up you can unlock new abilities, use new gear and weapons as well as gather loot to purchase new weapons. The inventory, however, needs some fine tuning to say the least.

But despite those hits or misses, the combat is what will keep you. What I liked about the combat system for this game is that it mixes it up. It’s not turned-based like a Final Fantasy game or action controlled like Monster Hunter, but a cool mix of the two. Being able to use abilities and special attacks at whim while being able to run around is amazing. Not to mention the A.I. party members are also a huge help in fights. The sound also changes in fights compared to just basic travel which I did enjoy as I love that in my games. Thought it’s no “Rules of Nature” or “Tomorrow is mine,” it’s okay music.

Balancing out this mixed bag is the saving grace of this game — getting your own mech suit called a Skell. These suits are amazing and once you get it the game shoots up from like a 6 or maybe a 7 to a 9 easily. Utilizing these suits for combat and travel makes the game way better. They can transform into cars/motorcycles, fly, hold up to 10 different weapons and make those huge enemies, that seemed impossible to take on before, fair game. But this doesn’t turn the game into easy mode as enemies do get harder to take on. And unlocking the Skell license has to be one of the most annoying parts of the game. But once it’s done you can get ready for some sweet Gundam-style action.

So far I’ve talked about a lot of hit or misses. This is sounding like a mixed bag, and truth be told it is. This game is easily 60 hours+ that is going to be filled with an okayish storyline, and grinding to get the good stuff. And it’s not meant for a casual audience. But honestly if you can get through the 30 or so hours and get the Skell License the game becomes a blast to play. Especially since there is a co-op play with friends, it’s amazing to have a squad of 4 Skells going around this world to take down these huge monsters. I just wish it didn’t take so long to get to that part.

So with the huge negatives being a bland story and poor design choices for certain aspects in this JRPG I have to give Xenoblade Chronicles X a 3.5 out of 5. It’s not bad at all, but I wish I didn’t have to wait to get to the Skell to really enjoy myself with this.