Turn Based Tuesday: Xenoblade Chronicles Review

It has been quite some time since I have turned my Wii on for any reason, much less a title I was excited to play.  When I heard about Xenoblade Chronicles, I was less than intrigued to say the least. I thought to myself "generic rpg for a generic console."  And it wasn't for any reason other than having little faith in the Wii to harbor anymore good games.  It was a dying console in my heart and I wanted nothing more to do with it essentially.  But fuck am I glad I changed my mind. This game has much more to offer than shitty graphics and motion controls.

I have not played any of the previous "Xeno" titles before so there was little to interest me.  In fact it wasn't me who purchased the title at all.  My roommate (massive fan of the JRPG) heard about it at GameStop and thought it sounded cool.  They told us that it was an "exclusive retail" offer that could not be purchased at any other location and they were going to hold a midnight release of it on Friday Mar. 30.  When I arrived, there was about...nobody there...give or take a few lost souls.  This was not a highly anticipated game from the looks of things.  Despite all of this, doing some research on the title we found out that people were calling this game "the next great RPG" and was considered by those at the pre-release to likely be the last great game on the Wii.  Well I can't make any such claims about whether the Wii has anything more up it's sleeve, but what I can tell you, is they were not kidding, this is a great game, and one you should not pass up lightly. If you own a Wii, this almost garners "must have" status.



Story: 

This game starts out with an epic and quite interesting setting.  The worlds exist upon massive scaled titans that are locked in battle and frozen in time.  The characters live on these ridiculous scaled titans after an ecosystem of fauna and flowers has spanned.  The other titan houses mechanical creatures that do battle with the humans of the other in an all out war whose mayhem and severity proportions are only matched by the battle between the titans themselves.  It's a great place to start, and infinitely more interesting than where the story proceeds from there on out.
Once the protagonist is revealed things get all too Japanese with its progression (despite the British accents everyone has in the English dub).  Our hero Shulk is the destined one to wield the almighty weapon of RPG and save the world from the impending doom.  The story does start to get more and more interesting after the early bits.  It's hard to reveal anything without ruining key plot elements but suffice it to say, you won't be disappointed with its story after giving the game a chance.  We've heard it before, but we don't mind as long as we have fun doing it, and that is where this game shines. 


Gameplay:

Combat:

Combat, like most RPG's, is the make-it-or-break-it of whether or not you pick up and play the game.  Games can have fun and engaging combat and still suck (Star Ocean 4) or have pathetically boring combat with engaging story (FF XIII).  We may settle for one or the other, but games do no reach the true pinnacle of our interest or that of the masses without having some of both.  For anything the story or presentation lack, it can be made up by the extremely interesting, fresh, and fun feel combat has in Xenoblade Chronicles.  From the interesting interface, to the future sight of the main character, down to the skill progression of the characters abilities...everything feels right. 

Combat plays like a hybrid of real time fighting and command input styles.  Much like an MMO or even similar to the combat of Final Fantasy XII.  As your character auto-battles with basics you're left to access your special abilities and monitor the battle making sure you use appropriate tactics.  Don't worry about controls either, you can use a classic controller to not have to worry about wielding the Wiimote in a dishonorable fashion (though if you don't already own one, it is a bit pricy considering).  A meter in the top left of the screen harbors your team attack queue.  This lets you chain skills across your party to unleash devastatingly effective combos.  This is vital to some of the bigger battles later on in the game so knowing what chains well to do the most damage is key.  You'll have plenty of battles to practice this during your exploration, and don't worry if you mess up.  Dying has very little penalty, you just wind up a minor distance back with all items and xp intact.


Combat has become detached in most of the other recent RPG's i've played.  The auto-battle system of the FFXIII's is evidence of that.  But this game keeps you exhilarated and having fun while managing your team and keeping your skills up.  It's face-paced and exciting.  Something an RPG hasn't been for me in a very long while.  Even when you think you're into a groove and you can sail by the battle, various moves will initiate quick time events to keep you engaged and paying attention.  But beyond that, once the main character garners the ability to see into the future (yeah...they go there), you are able to access one of the more unique combat elements of the game.  During battle, your character will "see the future" and predict when a ball-crushing attack from the opponent is about to commence.  The game goes into slow motion as you can warn your teammates, put up defenses, step up the offense, or whatever the situation calls for to adapt.  It's quite the interesting game mechanic and a lot of fun to utilize.  It breaks pacing and keeps everything fresh, even when if you aren't able to do anything about it, it's cool to see your impending demise come at you in slow-mo. 

Non-combat:

Outside of combat, there is a massive open world to explore.  The game is non-linear, so you can explore wherever you want taking on side quests or looking for epic loot at your leisure.  Luckily, there is also a quick warp system in place to make navigation and running around a lot less taxing when you have to backtrack (and you will have to backtrack).  There are no random encounters, meaning you get to pick and choose your battles.  This is immensely helpful when you're just trying to rush through for loot or when you're not feeling up to the task.  But remember, if you don't level up, you're going to regret it.  The games main story racks up about 60 or so hours with minimal dilly dallying.  Though I'm certain that a lot of that hourage is soaked up by the enormous number and length of the cut scenes.  I know it is in true RPG fashion, but god damn it, I felt like i was watching the ending of MGS4.  So you're gonna be here a while, not to mention the game boasts over 400 side quests and epic loot hideouts.  You are going to have a ton of shit to do and you're gonna need all the help you can get to do it all.  And if your not a completionist, that's fine, you're still gonna want some of that shit and all those levels just to keep up with the growing threats in the game progression.


Presentation:

This  is a Wii game, so you are not going to be dazzled, it does look good considering.  In some of the cinematic or whilst running about in the environment, do not be surprised when your humbled by the effort they put into this title.  The voice work is amazing and it really shows how they can word around even some of the corniest lines the game has to offer.  The frame rate doesn't buckle even on such limited hardware and there are effects all over the place during combat to keep your eyes locked away from any dull or lack-luster textures.  The music is intense when it wants, subtle when it needs, and appropriate during all the instances I've come across.  It's all ace's in my book, even if you aren't going to be humming the battle theme at work.

Result:

Xenoblade Chronicles brings it home in just about every category it needs to maintain a great game.  It goes to show what innovation can come from such a cookie cutter genre; it fixed what needed to be fixed and made stellar improvements.  The only thing that holds it back is the graphics and capabilities of the system it's on.  If this title was released on the PS3 or Xbox 360 with the HD graphics the systems are capable of, it probably would have been a ground breaking title release.  It isn't far off as is, but without any DLC expansions or HD graphics, it holds itself from creating a home in most peoples narrow scopes.








As a grade, I award it the prestigious honor of a 94%.  An 'A' for a game that truly deserves it.  All of the work and care the development team put into this title should not go unappreciated.   Games rarely succeed the way this game does.  It holds your attentions, keeps it fun, and rewards you with an experience you won't regret sitting through 70 hours of gameplay for.  If you are willing to stray from the mainstream of sleek looks and gorgeous textures, you will find a truly good game in wait.  This honestly should be a system seller, but I fear it will go widely unappreciated by the American audience.