Platform reviewed:Nintendo SwitchAvailable on:Nintendo SwitchRelease date:March 20, 2025
2054 A.D.
The last bastion of humanity flees Earth as its caught up in a conflict between two unknown alien factions.
Two months later, youre discovered in a drop pod without a single memory save for your name.
Thankfully, the context of each quest makes almost all of them worth doing.
Each one meaningfully expands the lore of Mira and its many alien races.
Theres a real feeling of growth and community thats seldom seen in the genre.
And, if youre paying attention, youll notice the various races co-existing.
Sure, the lengthy gap between main story missions wont sit right with everyone.
It might well be a re-release, butXenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Editionis handily one of thebest Nintendo Switch gamestoday.
Bordering the city is Primordia, a lush grassland dotted with lakes and mountains.
Exploring the world ofXenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Editionis its own multi-faceted reward.
It aids with overall progression, sure, but its also full of individual moments that wowed me.
TheXenobladeseries has some of the best music in gaming, and thats certainly no different withX.
Noctilum, for example, is dense with large coral-like structures.
Oblivia is dotted with towering ruins of an ancient civilization.
Cauldros is heavily industrialized, having been largely taken over by the antagonist Ganglion race.
However, inXenoblade Chronicles X,youd better believe that this is absolutely the case.
On the topic of enemies, youll swiftly find that Mira is an incredibly dangerous place.
Enemies are also surprisingly dynamic in their behavior.
Many only appear at certain times of the day.
But in your Skell, they might be more hostile.
Skell travel, while convenient, isnt exactly a free lunch, either.
Skell fuel is a limited resource and certain airborne mobs will attack if they spot you flying around.
Its so satisfying to plow through an area that was at one point impassible due to the level gap.
But thanks toDefinitive Editionsbetter tutorialization, things are generally much easier to learn.
Arts are color-coded; orange and yellow are melee and ranged attacks respectively.
Green Arts provide support such as buffs or healing.
What makes combat inXso engaging is you cant just be throwing out Arts willy-nilly.
Thats most apparent withXenoblade Chronicles Xscoolest combat feature: Overdrive.
Unlocked early on in the story, Overdrive is a massively powerful party-wide state.
For example, using three melee Arts in a row will boost the experience gained from the fight.
If managed correctly, you’re free to keep the Overdrive state active throughout an entire fight.
Its up there withXenoblade Chronicles 2stake on the Chain Attack systemfor me.
As great as the on-foot combat is, I unfortunately cant say the same for Skell combat.
Its as slow and clunky here as it was in the original.
Skells feel incredibly floaty, and the Arts provided by its equipment typically have much longer cooldowns.
You also cant use the quick cooldown feature while in your mech.
On the contrary, it provides some of the most gorgeous environments Ive ever seen rendered on Nintendo Switch.
As ever with the series, draw distance is incredibly impressive for a Switch game.
Non-player characters (NPCs), objects, and moving vehicles can materialize right in front of you.
Lastly, I have to make a note ofXenoblade Chronicles Xsgod-tier soundtrack.
Should I play Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition?
The glorious sci-fi setting matched with a deep and involving battle system provides a consistently moreish experience.
You love explorationThis game simply gets exploring a vast, open world so right.
Accessibility
Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Editionis unfortunately very minimal in terms of accessibility features.
I played the game on myNintendo Switch OLEDin both docked and handheld modes.
For docked play, I played on anLG CX OLED TVprimarily with aGameSir Novacontroller.
