In 1998, Squaresoft released an instant classic: Xenogears. The game blended gorgeous 2D sprites with polygonal backgrounds, with turn-based battles occurring both on foot and in giant mechs. The game was a ton of fun, but the real star of the show was its ambitious, in-depth story spanning fifteen thousand years. Unfortunately, time and budgetary constraints limited the grand scale of the game and, while the main plot of Xenogears wraps up in a very complete ending, it still suffers from legendary cuts. Plans for spinoff games, novels and comic books, otherwise known as Project Noah, were effectively canned and Xenogears was quietly forgotten by Squaresoft.
The project leads for Xenogears, Tetsuya Takahashi and his wife, Soraya Saga, refused to allow the dream to die. The two left Square to form their own studio, Monolith Soft, with the intent to reboot the Xeno franchise. With Namco as their publisher, the studio began work on the now-infamous Xenosaga series. Envisioned as a six-part sci-fi epic, the franchise faced difficulties with the huge scope of the individual titles as well as increased scrutiny by the publisher. The first planned title was split into two games, the second of which sold poorly, and the five other planned games were mashed into the actually decent Xenosaga: Episode III. By this point the franchise was dead, and the team at Monolith Soft again faced a tough situation.
Luckily for them, Monolith worked on several properties for Nintendo between their Xenosaga entries, including a trimmed-down remake of the first two games on the Nintendo DS. Nintendo had developed a positive relationship with Monolith, and by the time Xenosaga ended, made the decision to work more closely on future projects. Despite their stated intent to avoid mergers and acquisitions, Nintendo bought a vast majority of Monolith's stakes and essentially told them to go nuts.
Free from the tight constraints of Namco and with all the time in the world, executive director and lead writer Tetsuya Takahashi envisioned a new title: Monado, Beginning of the World. The game was to be a first for Nintendo: a massive open world with a rich lore on a truly enormous scope. Despite several setbacks, the game launched in Japan in 2010, followed by Europe the next year. Out of respect for Takahashi's previous work, the game was now titled Xenoblade, with a Chronicles slapped at the end in the Western release.
Xenoblade was a massive success, both critically and financially. It filled two niches that nobody had realized were just waiting with bated breath: the ever-growing Xeno fanbase, as well as the open world Nintendo fans who had no access to bigger titles like Grand Theft Auto. That, and the game is just damn good. So good, in fact, that Nintendo flipped their tepid response to an American release in 2012, finally giving the entire world a chance to play the game. A good choice, too, given the most recent game in the series is one of Nintendo's best-selling games in recent years.
The civilization of Xenoblade developed on the back of two colossal entities: the Bionis, an organic being, and the Mechonis, its mechanical counterpart. Thousands of years before the story, the Bionis and Mechonis fought to a stand-still, killing each other with a final clash. After a period of silence, robotic monsters from the Mechonis begin a genocidal campaign against the races of the Bionis, culminating in a battle which pushed back the Mechon horde.
One year later, the Mechon return to seek vengeance on those responsible, the humanoid homs who wield a Mechon-destroying sword known as the Monado. After fighting back the Mechon swarm and witnessing the death of his childhood friend, the new heir to the Monado, Shulk, heads for the Mechonis to fulfill his revenge.
As the Bionis is a colossal being and Shulk is relatively young, the many cultures of Bionis are unknown to him. This creates one of the most important aspects of Xenoblade: the affinity chart. Each named NPC is added to the chart when they're spoken to, and each one is affiliated with at least one other NPC. Since many know two or more characters, this creates a branching relationship which the player can unlock during the entirety of the game. I say can because naturally, this mechanic is entirely optional.
Not only does the affinity system give players access to store discounts and side quests, the deepening relationship with each community gives the world a life that feels vibrant and diverse. Each character on the affinity chart has their own schedule and character traits, and most importantly, grow and develop over the course of the game. A character might have something entirely new to say after plot development, and in some cases, this involves that character interacting with another, growing the chart further. A few characters will even interact with others in different communities, giving the player a sense that their input is growing the community across the entire Bionis.
While Xenoblade does sport a distinct open world, statements that the game is seamless and without loading screens are patently false. That said, because each area represents a different "body part" of the Bionis, the maps can look wildly different while keeping a similar cohesive theme. Props need to be given to the art team, especially given how fully realized each area appears.
A basic gameplay routine develops early on, and while systems like boss fights and the affinity system grow over time the general flow remains the same. In the open world areas, players typically run across three to five generic quest-givers, alongside a shop or two and maybe one named NPC. Many of these first quests are generic, like killing monsters or picking up items, but due to the real-time nature of the game these quests feel more like background noise than filler. However, taking the short amount of time to complete these quests gives the player an advantage throughout the game.
Combat feels similar to real-time MMO games, such as World of Warcraft, in that the character automatically attacks while the player is given a basic palette of skills, or Arts, which fill back in over time. No resource management is required as the player's health restores after battle, though a reasonable level of character optimization is expected. Outside of the ability to customize which eight Arts the player brings into battle, each character is given a skill tree which increases passive abilities such as the ability to wear heavier armor and bonus to combat stats.
The skill tree ties into Xenoblade's affinity chart as well, as additional trees are unlocked by completing quests for the game's communities. The player characters literally grow stronger by interacting with towns and learning more about the world, but what really makes this special is that the same mechanic is applied to the party itself. As characters are used in the party together, they grow bonds which give access to more intimate heart-to-heart moments, which then further flesh out character backgrounds and motivations. These bonds also allow characters to add passive skills from other characters' skill trees, maximizing character potential beyond the standard skill trees and Arts.
The biggest flaw in this system is also its inherent strength, and will largely depend on the player's immersion in the world. The game is not balanced in such a way that players only interested in the story can focus entirely on the plot, and the game's multitude of sidequests and bonding events are not so shallow that a simple detour will be enough to make up for the game's later, difficult encounters. During my first playthrough I reached the penultimate boss before I realized I was underleveled and had horribly underutilized the game's crystal system, where pieces of armor can be adjusted using slot bonuses in a relatively intuitive crafting mechanic. I loaded up an earlier save to complete more side activities, but in doing so overwrote my original save file and found myself dozens of hours away from the end of the game.
Xenoblade's story is the high point for me, but investing in the world can be extremely rewarding for players who find an interest in that sort of game. Fans of traditional JRPGs will find a familiar tone and atmosphere in the narrative and there are plenty of twists and interesting ideas to keep most people motivated, but keep in mind this title can last several dozen hours even if you manage to avoid side content. I would not recommend this approach though, as it heavily undermines the technical achievement of Xenoblade.
The Wii was an extremely underpowered piece of hardware, as was the Wii U and Nintendo's current Switch console. The fact that such an enormous game with so many environments and mechanics turned out so well on the Wii is worthy of praise, not to mention how deeply connected all these mechanics can be. Xenoblade performs so admirably that to compare it to previous attempts by Takahashi and Saga truly shines a light on how underutilized their talents were in previous generations, and while I still hope to see a completed version of Xenogears one day, it's exciting to know that the team at Monolith are finally being given their due by Nintendo. And if reports on Monolith's current activities are any indication, it seems like Nintendo is fully aware that their ambitious little studio can pull through with proper time and care.
Xenoblade continues the tradition of Monolith's generations-spanning storytelling, weaving complex political intrigue with bombastic action and science fiction. A decade after its release, Xenoblade continues to be one of the most awe-inspiring games of all time. The game might expect you to put in a great deal of work to fully appreciate its scope, but give it enough time and you'll find yourself wrapped in a grand adventure unlike any other video game out today.
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