Xenoblade Chronicles 2

True believers really love Xenoblade Chronicles. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 takes a lot of creative swings that very much set it apart from its predecessor; whether or not it’s a worthy sequel depends on who you ask. Taken on its own, it’s a game that has been designed from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch. The Switch 2 edition fixes one of the biggest problems Xenoblade Chronicles 2 had, but it doesn’t fix a lot of the inherent issues within the game.

The biggest problem: Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is criminally impenetrable. The original Xenoblade Chronicles is a big game with many complicated systems. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 runs almost completely contrary to Nintendo‘s usual stylings in terms of its maximalist design, and most heartbreakingly of all, it does a terrible job of teaching you its myriad mechanics. Combat systems, combat sub-systems, character progression (which can feature character-specific mechanics), exploration… There are tutorials for these systems. And goodness knows, you’re getting tutorials for them right up to the 25-hour mark (when most games would be half-finished). These tutorials also do a poor job of properly explaining these mechanics to you. Worse still: there are no in-game references for these tutorials, no menu at your disposal to get a refresher on how Blade Combos or Driver combos work or what the floating orbs floating over enemies mean or what it means when those orbs “burst.” For a game with so much to do, Xenoblade Chronicles 2‘s Switch 2 update does nothing to improve its poor efforts at teaching you to play it. Given how much there is in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, this is a major failing.

And while the graphical updates were painfully needed, they, too, have noticeable flaws. The first time I loaded up Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and watched Rex in motion, I jolted back in my seat. I was not prepared for how fluid the game looked. But then a cutscene played, and a pit grew in my stomach; as beautiful as Xenoblade Chronicles 2 looks now, with all of its myriad improvements and all of the new fluidity characters have in motion, character models inexplicably return to their choppy, stuttery movement when they turn around or pivot in place. It’s noticeable. Call it a monkey’s paw, something to keep the graphics hounds humble and remember what they’re playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 for. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth during every cutscene, though. Cutscenes are further hampered by bad audio editing; for some reason, the music now drowns out dialogue at times. There is also an unfortunate glitch in New Game+ where using an Amiibo can erase your party members’ third Item Pouch. At the time of writing, these glitches have not been fixed.

Those flaws need to be kept in mind because, despite all that, this is still Xenoblade Chronicles 2. If you can look past these major flaws and meet this game where it’s at, its maximalism and hard-hitting story can and will captivate you.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 takes place in the land of Alrest, an endless ocean of clouds dotted with colossal Titans upon which myriad kingdoms make their homes. These Titans, sadly, are aging and slowly dying, leading to a land war between the nations of Mor Ardain and Uraya. The battles are fought between armies of Drivers, warriors who have bonded with sentient weaponized artificial life forms called Blades. Our humble hero, Rex, is a plucky youth who lives in the shadows of this war, concerned only with helping his humble hometown. A job gone awry leaves Rex’s life in the hands of the enigmatic Pyra, who is the Aegis: a Blade of untold power. While the nations wheel and deal and the terrorist organization Torna plots in the shadows, Rex and his friends carry out their simple mission: getting Pyra to the mythical land of Elysium, said to be perched atop the World Tree, where the world-forging Architect is said to reside.

Like the rest of the game, how much you buy into Xenoblade Chronicles 2‘s story depends on how much you’re willing to meet the characters where they’re at. Pyra and friends are designed by Masatsugu Saitō, whose artwork is far more colorful and stylized than Xenoblade Chronicles. And while Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition brought Shulk and friends into stylized parity with its sequel, the Blades are far more colorful and uncanny than even that. Xenoblade 2‘s story reaches farther than its ostentatious characters. This is a redemption story, finding purpose in your life, and living true to yourself. There’s a reason this game’s story has resonated with people the way it has, and there’s a reason people love Pyra (and Mythra) as much as they do. Rex might be more of an Ishmael in this story, but it wouldn’t be a boy-meets-girl without the boy. And as trite and cliché as it might sound, it can take someone who chooses the good in everyone to remind us that it’s there. The English dub‘s direction is sadly spotty; this hasn’t been fixed. But Skye Bennett’s performances as Pyra (and Mythra) steal the show here. David Menkin’s performance as the slimy Malos gives us the perfect guy we love to hate. Al Weaver’s Rex is winsome and charming at his best, a blithe hero with a can-do attitude. His worst moments really make me wish there was better directing. The Switch 2 Edition also features a handful of new lines for some of the cast, specifically Dromarch and Zeke. Their new actors are serviceable, but also very clearly not the originals.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2‘s maximalism truly shines in the moment-to-moment experiences. The Joycon’s HD Rumble punctuates your skill checks with vibrating “ding!”s or “bwomp!”s as you succeed or fail. Even the game’s most controversial feature, its in-game gacha system, was once meant to take advantage of the Switch’s media sharing capabilities. Speaking of: I’ve heard anecdotes that the Switch 2 Edition‘s updates improve some of the odds for Rare Blades, notably the infamously elusive KOS-MOS. After many attempts, I can’t quite confirm this to be the case. I wasn’t even able to get the new Blade, M.O.M.O. I can confirm, however, that upon revisiting the game, I found myself at home with the many unique quests needed to improve each of my Blades, and the many fun sub-systems like the Shop Deeds (which gate useful power-ups) and the Salvaging. It’s a pity that these systems are so poorly introduced, because they’re all so meaty and contribute to the larger experience.

New to the Switch 2 Edition is the new Merc Assault mode; for people who wanted a musou-style Xenoblade, this is the closest we’ll ever get. And for folks who wanted to actually control your Blades, this is your mode. It’s effectively a short real-time sortie, complete with some mechanics from the main game’s battle system (specifically, its Blade Combo system). You’ll mix weak and heavy attacks along with recharging specials to mow down waves of enemies, all while collecting power-ups that improve various attributes. It’s immediately engaging, a little addicting—and, most of all, fun. It’s a shame it’s only in service of the Mercenary Missions; it would have been nice to have other unlocks through the system, like more costumes. But it gives players one more option in terms of their Mercenary unit, which facilitates other systems in-game. If Monolith is experimenting with further battle systems or mini-games, they’re on the right track.

I wish the Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch 2 Edition updates were a straight improvement across the board. If the character stuttering and volume balancing had been fixed, this would’ve been a slam dunk recommendation, even with the inherent snags in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. If, in the future, they’re addressed, I’d be all the happier. I can’t tell you if Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a better game than its predecessor. But warts and all, this is still an RPG that everyone should at least try.