Xenoblade Chronicles Broke Me, Then Fixed Me
A battle with time
I’m a 32-year old adult with many hobbies and more video games, tv shows, and movies than I know what to do with. As I’ve grown older, video games have become more difficult to consume because time-budgeting as an adult has become harder. The biggest victim of this for me has been RPGs, particularly JRPGs, which can have runtimes that make me question whether the developers themselves have seen the endings of their own games. That’s why as I began my Xenoblade Chronicles journey back in June with the release of the Switch 2 Definitive Edition, I had no intention of actually finishing the game. The goal was to play enough to “get it” as a video game commentator and critic.
I’m admittedly nerdy when it comes to my pursuit of understanding what makes video games click for people, even if they don’t click for me. Xenoblade Chronicles has always felt like a gap in my gaming history when you take into consideration my love of Nintendo and fondness for JRPGs like Persona, Final Fantasy, and even The Last Story which serves as sort of a cousin to Xenoblade Chronicles (see Operation Rainfall). For a 2010 Wii game that barely made it over to North America, I wasn’t expecting that picking up Xenoblade Chronicles in 2026 would become a transformative journey for me.
Monolith Soft, Nintendo
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition includes the additions and enhancements from the Definitive Edition, along with even more made possible by the power of the Nintendo Switch 2 system - including added features, a smoother frame rate, 4K resolution in TV mode, and full HD in handheld mode.
Xenoblade is Cool AF
The game immediately hooked me.
Taking place on the surface of a titan called Bionis is a tale of revenge, a war between factions, and a chosen one. A courageous, young Shulk is the protagonist, equipped with a magical sword called the Monado and joined by a crew of diverse adventurers. It’s a familiar setup for an RPG, but Xenoblade Chronicles quickly subverts expectations. An enemy invasion leads to an early character fate that was not only surprising, but downright shocking when taking into consideration their relationship to the main character. Not only that, but the enemies aren’t just enemies, they’re mechs from another titan called Mechonis. Bionis and Mechonic are frozen in battle, but the life formed on these titans continue to carry on their conflict. It’s a premise that sets up themes around war and allegiance, yet I was curious to see if the story would deliver on these ideas. Intriguing ideas aside, I’m a simple guy. Cool ass mechs were enough to have me coming back for those first few chapters of the game.
I was indeed gripped by the story early on. Characters like the sniper healer, Sharla (who is basically Ana from Overwatch), and Riki (he’s hard to explain) joined the crew. The party expanded, reveals about Shulk grew more fascinating, and the world of the Bionis grew in a way that as you’d expect in any JRPG had me along for the long ride. My growing interest in the world of Xenoblade made me ready to come face to face with a growing battle between me and my commitment issues with JRPGs. So let’s talk about how Xenoblade Chronicles broke me and then fixed me.