The open world RPG is receiving a ton of releases this year, from Lords of Zestiria and The Witcher 3 to possibly the biggest game of 2015, Fallout 4. But before the year turns to 2016, Nintendo wants to throw its hat into the RPG arena with its own exclusive game for the Wii U.
Monolith and Nintendo collaborate again for Xenoblade Chronicles X , a game about survival that is as beautiful to look at as it is fun to play. Prepare for another game to sink hours into as Nintendo may have possibly produced the best Wii U game of 2015.
From the moment you boot up the game, you’ll be in awe of the graphics. It’s a beautifully created game Monolith and Nintendo should be very proud of. So let’s dive right into Xenoblade Chronicles X and see what makes this game a late candidate for game of the year, starting with the graphics.
GRAPHICS
You’ve probably seen some of the trailers already but those don’t do Xenoblade Chronicles X justice. Players are treated to a story of the annihilation of Earth and watching the cutscenes with lasers lighting up the darkness of space had me glued to my screen.
And that awe was only magnified when you finally begin to explore the open alien world of Mira and see what it has to offer. The beauty of Xenoblade Chronicles X is in the overworld of the game and how great the environment and alien life looks. You’ll get lost exploring the mountains and open fields of Mira.
Again, the cutscenes in Xenoblade Chronicles X are great when they are kinetic but you can see the limitations of the Wii U when characters are standing still talking. Their animations aren’t as fluid and the detail isn’t on par with other systems and games. The characters themselves are well designed and fit in with the Xenoblade style. It’s very Final Fantasy with a more anime style.
However, Xenoblade’s art style lends itself to less realism so some of the graphical shortcomings doesn’t take away from the experience.
And it’s an experience that is made even greater by the gameplay.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in Xenoblade Chronicles X is simple yet difficult. It doesn’t help that there isn’t much tutorial when it comes to how your character moves so it’s all done on the fly for the most part. However, the controls while using the Wii U gamepad are natural.
You’ll walk or jog and jump around Mira very easily (and believe me, it’s so much for to leap when running at full speed) but some of the mechanics would have been better served with a little more direction. This is especially the case with the targeting and battle systems.
As a newbie to the Xenoblade series, how your character targets and battles was very foreign to me. There’s no traditional aiming button. Instead there’s a button where you can focus on a target and even then it’s not exactly aiming.
You’ll hold down the R button and press an action key to begin a battle. There’s no open firing like in some RPGs so you’ll have to get in close enough to be in target range. The beginning of the game thrusts you into an easy battle while your tutor tells you to “experiment” and “figure it out.” But what follows can be frustrating to many.
It’s one big trial and error as you figure out how to aim and actually begin fights. Luckily, in Xenoblade Chronicles X you won’t be snuck up on by enemies (most of the time) or go through a gauntlet of battles so you can figure it out at your own pace and it does become second nature after a while.
But the fact that you can’t target normally is a head scratcher. This is especially cumbersome when there are multiple enemies.
On Mira, there are more alien life that won’t engage in battle with you than will. However, there may be an alien that will engage in battle that happens to be in the same vicinity as one that isn’t. With the targeting system the way it is, you can be stuck targeting the non-threat. And hopefully you don’t accidentally shoot it because then that non-hostile life form will now fight you.
The Battle System itself is pretty straightforward. You don’t have to actually attack your enemy once you have focused on it. Your character will automatically fire off round after round or slash away with a melee weapon.
The point of battles in Xenoblade Chronicles X is to move around and not let your enemy have a target to hit. In battle, you can change from your melee to long-range weapon and then you’ll have special abilities called ARTS. These will be present when battles begin and each have their own abilities, strengths, cooldowns etc…
You’ll recycle through your ARTS and attacks till the enemy or your team is down. Battles can get a bit repetitive in the early going as you haven’t leveled up enough to gain new weapons and ARTS but that quickly changes once the meat of the story is set up.
How you choose to battle is what gives this game some incredible depth in customization and how you role-play.
CUSTOMIZATION
Xenoblade Chronicles X gives you customization/choice over pretty much anything in the game. Of course, being an action RPG you’ll have your choice of fighting style between being a tank, offensive-minded or support and even then it gets broken down into CLASSES.
It may not be as deep as some other RPGs but the CLASS systems is just the tip of the iceberg.
Your ARTS can be customized and shuffled as you level up, and your armor and weapons can be changed. Even certain weapons and armor that have the same name may have different properties. And then you’ll have special SKILLS that will appear with your class and you can choose which you will have. There’s even some overworld SKILLS that you’ll gain later in the game that will help you explore the world of Mira better.
The customization goes as deep as to which R&D company you want to invest your money in. There’s a lot to take in with Xenoblade Chronicles X and you’ll have plenty of time to do it all.
VERDICT
Xenoblade Chronicles X is easily one of the best Wii U games of 2015. The graphics are amazing, the story is simple yet intriguing and the gameplay is top notch. And I feel I should say that the use of the Wii U gamepad is amazing and is exactly what the console was made for,
The big problem with the game is how the targeting system works and the unique battle system that comes with no instructions. But once you put in the time you’ll be able to explore and fight with ease.
There’s plenty to do whether it’s the main story missions or side quests and that alone will have you putting more hours into Xenoblade Chronicles X than any other Wii U game in 2015.
Xenoblade Chronicles X won’t get the fanfare and accolades as other RPGs that came out this year, but what Monolith has brought to the Wii U should be in “Game of the Year” discussions. These are the games Nintendo needs to put out in the future.
