Those gigantic hulking masses of metal taunt players with every step you take in NLA, but it really is just a matter of time until we can get our hands on one and revel between the metallic sheets to take on bigger monsters and travel greater distances.
Tirelessly running through segments of the GamePad’s map to install the next data probe on a Frontier Nav site – primarily to increase the location’s survey rate and add to your miranium and revenue levels – can be a real chore.Īfter 28 hours of traversing the landscape on foot, seamless as it is with the map’s grateful fast travel mechanic, I’ve still yet to score my Skell, which is arguably the most intoxicating part of the game and one that I unfortunately cannot comment on. While this is a fantastic way to explore Mira, as well as gain closer connections to the game’s well-voiced and three-dimensional characters, it’s also a little mundane. All story chapters require players to hit certain levels, location survey rates and complete affinity quests before embarking on the next mission. However, if you want to progress through X’s main storyline quickly, you’ll be in for a sharp surprise. The game’s stunning visuals are just astounding at times with perfect lighting and shade. Once your avatar is complete, players will be launched into the wonderfully immersive storyline and follow commander Elma to NLA in a three-chapter jaunt in learning the game’s basics. Though, pre-made avatar faces in a game so intrinsically detailed will no doubt be a sore spot to fans of the series. Aside from slight adjustments to the game’s avatar customisation, including the removal of a breast slider from the Western version, players will find plenty of opportunity to stylise a character to their liking. It just requires patience, effort, and a willingness to face niggling frustrations due to its lack of comprehensive explanations.įirst and foremost, Xenoblade Chronicles X focuses on your customisable avatar and two other main characters, Elma and Lin, alongside an adorable dancing Nopon named Tatsu. And that’s not to say X is off-putting for those new to the series, in fact, it’s far from it.
Simply put, both new and veteran players will need to dip in to the game’s instruction manual repeatedly to learn its complexities and incredible depth.
While there are numerous moments to be lost for words when looking over at the highly detailed and huge monsters that roam the planet, Xenoblade Chronicles X is almost like wading through mud.įrom running through Primordia, Noctilum and Oblivia in the beginning, clawing your way through the amount of customisation and upgrade menus available, to surveying the land through data probe placement, it’s more than a little daunting. The sheer size and scope of X’s gameplay is absolutely staggering, perhaps even intimidating, for newcomers and fans alike that it’s easy to lose all sense of time and your bearings when in Mira.
The JRPG feels similar to a beautiful blend of Capcom’s Monster Hunter series and James Cameron’s Academy award-winning Avatar, with its focus on arts and skills for battle mechanics than traditional button-pressing play. It’s actually a large iced doughnut, masquerading as a city.Īs a complete beginner to the franchise, Xenoblade Chronicles X is somewhat difficult to get to grips with. New Los Angeles (NLA) as it stands after crashing on Mira. In the six months after, Earth’s evacuees establish New Los Angeles, living and breathing alongside the planet’s monsters – or indigens as they are more widely known – and the Nopon race. Yet due to an intergalactic battle with the alien race, the White Whale’s doom is sealed and crashes, spreading debris far and wide over Mira. Following the battle between two alien races that caused Earth’s destruction, American civilians evacuated on to the interstellar ark known as the White Whale. Pitched as the spiritual successor to Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii and New Nintendo 3DS, players will be placed in the year 2054 on planet Mira to discover and explore its six distinct locations.
With a visually stunning backdrop and battle mechanics that permeate the surroundings so beautifully, the JRPG is a timeless classic made for franchise fans.ĭeveloped by the renowned Japanese company Monolith Soft and directed by Tetsuya Takahashi, Xenoblade Chronicles X is an intensely enjoyable but highly complex action RPG. Years in the making, Xenoblade Chronicles X finally lands on the Nintendo Wii U console.