Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (2024)

Xenoblade Chronicles came to the Nintendo Wii in 2010 (and the North American Wii in 2012), presenting a massive JRPG world that really pushed the humble motion-controlled system’s capabilities. It was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS as Xenoblade Chronicles 3D in 2015 and felt like even more of a technical feat then. Now, three years after its surprise sequel, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, was launched on the Nintendo Switch, the original Xenoblade Chronicles is getting another port, as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition ($59.99). It runs at a higher resolution than the Wii or 3DS could handle, and features a generous extra campaign that takes place after the main story. Unfortunately, the aging RPG now looks and feels a bit dated, especially after Xenoblade Chronicles 2's release.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (1)

Xenoblade Chronicles Basics

Xenoblade Chronicles' core game on the Switch is identical to the 3DS and Wii games in terms of story, gameplay, and a good chunk of the graphics (besides the higher resolution). This is the same JRPG Nintendo has published twice before, and it largely holds up. In a world where two continent-sized giant creatures stand locked in place after a giant battle, a tinkerer named Shulk takes control of the Monado, a powerful sword that can change the flow of fate. If you’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles in any form before, you’ve already seen the story. If you haven’t, it’s a big, compelling adventure filled with anime-inspired style and tropes.

Our Experts Have Tested 19 Products in the Nintendo Games Category in the Past Year

Since 1982, PCMag has tested and rated thousands of products to help you make better buying decisions.See how we test.

Xenoblade Chronicles' various zones are massive, sprawling areas similar in scale to MMO zones. Simply pushing through the main plot will only show you half of the game’s world. There are countless paths and uncharted areas you’ll only come across if you pursue side quests and simply explore by yourself, ignoring the yellow dotted line on the mini-map pointing you towards the next story objective.

Decade-Old Graphics

While this is Xenoblade Chronicles' definitive version, the game isn’t a full overhaul of a remake. The graphics are tweaked and improved a bit from the Wii and 3DS versions, specifically with main character models and some textures and lighting effects. However, many textures aren't changed, and while the higher resolution makes the game markedly sharper, there are some clearly visible lines where the ten-year-old graphics come through. Compared with Xenoblade Chronicles 2's graphics, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition's textures are often pixelated, and characters and environments look generally simpler, as any game from two console generations ago might. The game looks good, and the grand scope of the zones is intact, but it feels a bit outdated.

Similar Products

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (2)

3.5

Good

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (for Nintendo Switch)

$53.49 at Amazon $59.99 Save $6.50 See It

Read Our Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (3)

4.5

Outstanding

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (for Nintendo Switch)

$57.00 at Amazon $59.99 Save $2.99 See It

Read Our The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (4)

5.0

Exemplary

Super Mario Odyssey (for Nintendo Switch)

$30.00 at Walmart $53.69 Save $23.69 See It

Read Our Super Mario Odyssey (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (6)

4.5

Outstanding

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch)

$59.99 at Target See It

Read Our Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (7)

4.5

Outstanding

Puyo Puyo Tetris (for Nintendo Switch)

$32.11 at Amazon See It

Read Our Puyo Puyo Tetris (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (8)

4.5

Outstanding

Lumines Remastered (for Nintendo Switch)

$4.49 at Amazon $14.99 Save $10.50 Check Stock

Read Our Lumines Remastered (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (9)

4.0

Excellent

Splatoon 2 (for Nintendo Switch)

$59.88 at Walmart $99.52 Save $39.64 See It

Read Our Splatoon 2 (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (10)

4.0

Excellent

Animal Crossing: New Horizons (for Nintendo Switch)

$59.99 at Target See It

Read Our Animal Crossing: New Horizons (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (11)

4.0

Excellent

Kirby Star Allies (for Nintendo Switch)

$52.89 at Amazon See It

Read Our Kirby Star Allies (for Nintendo Switch) Review

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (12)

Plenty to Do

As you play through the game and explore the world, you’ll find countless monsters to fight, items to collect, and side quests to complete. Potential enemies are helpfully labeled with aggressiveness icons; eyes mean a monster will attack if it sees you, sound lines mean it will attack if it hears you, and a burst icon means it will attack if you use magical ether powers near it (and if the cursor is blank, the creature will only defend itself if you attack it). Ordinary enemies are regularly broken up with uniquely named enemies that are more challenging and give better loot.

Collectibles appear as floating blue wisps scattered throughout the map (and the very rare floating red wisps indicating important quest items), along with additional loot in chests that enemies can drop. Those collectibles don’t just let you complete side quests and provide fodder to sell to merchants; they also let you fill a Collectopedia album that challenges you to get one of every item randomly scattered throughout the game. The Collectopedia provides its own set of rewards, giving you useful equipment and stat-enhancing gems for every item category you fill for each area. You also receive bonuses for every filled page from each region.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (13)

Side quests are plentiful and can be found by talking to characters with small exclamation points over their heads. These optional quests are usually one of two types: Kill a certain number of enemies or collect a certain number of items. They can be tedious if you go after each quest individually, but helpful indicators on the mini-map let you know if an objective for any quest you’ve taken (and you can take dozens at a time) is nearby and worth undertaking. They also provide useful items and plenty of money to buy equipment and upgrades.

The best and most interesting side quests require following quest chains and relationships between NPCs in the game, which can get extremely complicated and sometimes feels bewildering. Juggling dozens of fetch quests in your log is one thing, but adding the need to factor in whether certain characters like you and each other enough to activate even more quests can really feel overly complex and unnecessary. There’s plenty of work to do there, but you need to be obsessive to even attempt to finish every task that comes up.

Besides the collectible-hunting and formal side quests, you also eventually unlock the ability to rebuild a town by providing different amounts of items from around the world. These objectives aren’t specifically tracked like side quests, but they’re worth pursuing for the resources you get and merchants that become available as the town grows.

Complicated Combat

Xenoblade Chronicles' combat is in real-time and, like the zone layout and quest structure, feels very MMO-inspired. You play one character at a time, usually Shulk, while the other two members of your party (from a selection of several) are AI-controlled. Each character automatically attacks and has a selection of skills, each with their own cooldown timer that forces you to vary what you do. Buffs and debuffs play an important part of fights, with nearly every skill either negatively affecting an enemy (in addition to damage, if it’s an attack), or giving a temporary benefit to a party member. Positioning is also vital, and many attacks are more powerful or have additional effects if performed from the side or back.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (14)

Shulk’s Monado provides an additional selection of powers that are vital to certain fights. The powers let you damage mechanical creatures that otherwise are immune to weapons, remove powerful auras that protect certain enemies, and protect your team from powerful physical and magical attacks. The attacks are vital and work in conjunction with occasional glimpses of the future provided by the Monado, which let you know when you need to prepare a shield or enhance the speed of a character so they can weather a strong hit.

There’s also the team meter, which builds up as you fight and adds another level of complexity to the game. You can use one of the three bars in your team meter to bring fallen allies back to life or warn them of potentially lethal attacks, so that they can protect themselves if the Monado isn’t ready yet. You can also use your team meter to set off a powerful chain attack where time freezes and your party members attack a target one after another. Chain attacks can be very powerful, and using the right move combination makes chains even longer. I found them less useful than the ability to bring party members back to life, however, and seldom used chain attacks in my playthrough.

Extra Features

Combat factors into the only additional content Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition adds to the main game. As you explore, you’ll find portals that take you to a sage who provides combat trials. These pit your team against waves of enemies at different levels and reward you with unique equipment and special currency you can trade to the sage for more items. There are level-based trials that you can go into with your current party, and special scenario trials that give you a preset party. They’re fun little extra challenges, but they don’t provide much extra content as you play through the game.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (15)

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition does add one major piece of content to the original game—or more specifically after the original game. Future Connected is an additional adventure that takes place after the game's conclusion. It’s a separate menu item on the opening screen, so you don’t need to play through Xenoblade Chronicles to access it if you’ve already experienced the story on another system.

Future Connected takes you to a new region on Bionis to solve a lingering mystery after the events of the game. Your stats and party are preconfigured for the content, so you can’t bring your high-level and equipment-laden party from the main game. Shulk starts at level 60, and gear is more limited. The new campaign plays largely the same as the main game, with a few small tweaks to combat and item collection. Your party can now be aided by a team of “Ponspectors,” puff ball explorers who follow you around, and crystals mined from resource points can immediately be used in equipment and no longer need to be crafted into gems. Besides those differences, Future Connected looks and plays the same as the rest of Xenoblade Chronicles.

It isn’t quite as massive as the 40-plus-hour main game, but Future Connected is fairly sprawling, and it adds several more hours of play time to the game. It’s a pleasant little additional adventure that takes a small look at the state of the world after the main game's ending.

A Lengthy Chronicle

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is the best (and only current) way to play Xenoblade Chronicles right now. There’s plenty to do in the game, which will keep you playing for dozens of hours, even before you touch the satisfying extra campaign. Combat can feel a bit overly complex, though, and the graphics are a bit dated. The RPG is a strong choice for genre fans looking for a huge Switch time sink, but it’s hardly a must-buy, especially if you’ve already played Xenoblade Chronicles and don’t feel an urge for another long playthrough.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch)

3.5

See It $59.99 at GameStop

MSRP $59.99

Pros

  • Huge, sprawling game world

  • Includes a new, satisfying adventure

  • Many side quests

Cons

  • Dated graphics

  • Combat is overly complicated

  • Occasionally obtuse and confusing quest requirements

The Bottom Line

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is a faithful port of the original Wii JRPG, but with a higher resolution and a big, extra campaign.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (17)

Like What You're Reading?

Sign up for Lab Report to get the latest reviews and top product advice delivered right to your inbox.

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.


Thanks for signing up!

Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!

Sign up for other newsletters

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (18)

About Will Greenwald

Lead Analyst, Consumer Electronics

I’ve been PCMag’s home entertainment expert for over 10 years, covering both TVs and everything you might want to connect to them. I’ve reviewed more than a thousand different consumer electronics products including headphones, speakers, TVs, and every major game system and VR headset of the last decade. I’m an ISF-certified TV calibrator and a THX-certified home theater professional, and I’m here to help you understand 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and even 8K (and to reassure you that you don’t need to worry about 8K at all for at least a few more years).

Read Will's full bio

Read the latest from Will Greenwald

  • The Best 55-Inch TVs for 2024
  • The Best Cheap TVs for 2024
  • The Best Gaming TVs for 2024
  • The Best Bluetooth Headsets for 2024
  • Tune Into the Best Early Black Friday Deals on TVs From Amazon, LG, Samsung, More
  • More from Will Greenwald
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (for Nintendo Switch) Review (2024)
Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Terrell Hackett

Last Updated:

Views: 6209

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (52 voted)

Reviews: 91% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Terrell Hackett

Birthday: 1992-03-17

Address: Suite 453 459 Gibson Squares, East Adriane, AK 71925-5692

Phone: +21811810803470

Job: Chief Representative

Hobby: Board games, Rock climbing, Ghost hunting, Origami, Kabaddi, Mushroom hunting, Gaming

Introduction: My name is Terrell Hackett, I am a gleaming, brainy, courageous, helpful, healthy, cooperative, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.