When JRPGs were struggling to evolve last generation, Xenoblade Chronicles came along and showed the genre still had a few tricks up its sleeve. It earned plenty of praise as one of the best role-playing games of last generation, currently holding a 92 score on Metacritic. Monolith Soft proved it could create a compelling world and innovate in the genre, thanks to its creative design and MMO-style combat.
Its successor, Xenoblade Chronicles X, doesn't just switch it up to an extensive sci-fi setting; it expands the scope of everything, building upon the solid foundation set by its predecessor. I recently spent five hours with the game, and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. If you thought Xenoblade Chronicles was big, you will be surprised just how much Xenoblade Chronicles X dwarfs it - and that's not even mentioning the extensive customization or Skells (mechs) that further enhance the experience.
Note: This feature originally appeared in issue #270
A Strange New Planet
Not much has been revealed about X's plot, except that a huge battle between two alien species above Earth has destroyed our home planet. Humans evacuated and have spent the past two years roaming space in emergency ships. However, the real story doesn't begin until your main character (you can customize your gender and appearance), crash lands on the planet of Mira. Without much memory of who you are, you're greeted by a woman named Elma, who shows you the ropes of life on this -mysterious continent called Primordia. A rocky grasslands region, Primordia is the first of five different continents that make up Mira.
Elma explains that when their ship, the White Whale, crashed here two months ago, the surviving humans began slowly building New Los Angeles. A good portion of Xenoblade Chronicles' plotline focuses on rebuilding society and finding survivors to revive humanity, but what's most intriguing are the mysteries Mira holds. The planet is teeming with dangers beyond enormous creatures; in fact, as you explore, you run into various alien species. Some will be hostile; others will join your base if you help them out. Can everyone coexist? This already seems more exciting than Xenoblade Chronicles' plot. We always question if there's life on other planets and if it would be friendly or not, and I like how X explores this concept.
Also noticeable right out of the gate is that X's dialogue has much more personality than Xenoblade Chronicles. Your dialogue choices elicit different responses depending on what you pick. These won't alter the storyline, but instead color the conversations you have with other characters. At one point, I try to take credit for keeping the area safe, and Elma quickly calls me on it. Later, we meet our second party member, Lin Lee, a 15-year-old mechanic. She's extremely gifted, but every so often says something that reminds you she's just 15, like when she talks about her Skell fan-fiction. The humor isn't overdone and is clever when it's used. Counting Elma and Lin Lee, a total of 16 characters can be recruited for your party. This includes all the DLC characters released in -Japan; Nintendo is including them at no cost in the North American release.
Becoming A Member Of B.L.A.D.E.
The opening moments serve to ease you into the mechanics and all the different things you can do. It's a lot of information to take in, and even after spending five hours with the game, I was still learning the ropes. New Los Angeles, with its four districts, serves as your hub. After a few basic missions, you join up with B.L.A.D.E. (Builders of a Legacy After the Destruction of Earth). This group was created to maintain the burgeoning New Los Angeles and to explore for supplies and threats. Once you join, you get to pick from one of eight different classes, from mediators who help the townspeople to reclaimers who search for wreckage from the White Whale. Every class comes with its own perks, and just because you pick a class doesn't mean you can't do activities associated with others; this just gives you an area to focus on for potential upgrades for your character. Throughout the game, you earn division points for defeating enemies, completing missions, and opening chests. Bonus division points are awarded if you do missions in your specialization. Division points allow you to level up your B.L.A.D.E. rank, which grants you additional rewards and higher level probes.
B.L.A.D.E. has its own mission board, where you can retrieve different job requests. From the get-go, the board is overflowing with a variety of missions, on top of people handing you tasks. More than 400 quests exist, including story missions that advance the plot, affinity missions that improve your relationship with characters, and normal side quests such as rescuing characters or retrieving items. The narrative has a total of 12 chapters, but you can't advance unless you meet certain requirements. For instance, you might need to reach a specific affinity level with a character or explore 15 percent of the continent to proceed.
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