Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - Switch 2 Review

The Xenoblade series has sneakily become one of the major Nintendo-exclusive franchises over the years, with the JRPG epics winning a growing fanbase and a whole lot of playtime hours. To that end, we’ve already had remasters of Xenoblade Chronicles and X; Xenoblade Genesis is on its way, but now it is the turn of 2018’s Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to get a shiny new update for the Nintendo Switch 2. So how does the update of this often-overlooked entry in the series stack up?

The Good

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is (unsurprisingly) the second of the Xenoblade trilogy, but playing any of the other games is certainly not a prerequisite – Xenoblade 2 is its own story in its own world. And what a world it is, consisting of continent-sized creatures swimming on an endless sea of cloud, with colourful inhabitants living their lives on the backs of these titans. It is on one of these creatures we find our hero, Rex, a young salvager. He is swiftly swept up in the plot by bonding with a mysterious ancient blade (a kind of sentient weapon that also has a separate physical body), called Pyra, who needs to save the world. From there Rex and his growing team of companions and new blades will be travelling the world, fighting monsters, thwarting evil plots and learning world-changing truths along the way.

As you can perhaps tell from the scale of the story, you get your money's worth – the wide-ranging tale will take you many, many hours to get through, particularly as it ensures plenty of time for simple character development and low-stakes adventures, all of which fits into the very earnest tone the game has throughout. Rex is a pure-of-heart idealist, succeeding by pure force of will and the power of friendship, with Xenoblade 2 proudly wearing its sincerity on its sleeve.

The grand drama comes with environments to suit – each continent has huge, open areas stretching way off into the distance, populated with things to collect, side quests to track down, and creatures to fight (eventually – at first you’ll have to be careful to steer clear of the high-level monsters). The Switch 2 update, which focuses on upgrading the game to run at 4k, HD and 60 FPS, really does make a noticeable difference here, and everything looks great.

That increased performance also translates to the combat gameplay, which is where Xenoblade 2 really gets to stand out. Melodrama and huge lands are pretty par for the course in Xenoblade games, but the Blade system – where each of your party can be linked to 3 different 'Blade characters’ with their own moves, effects and skill trees – means the level of customisation you can give to your party and playstyle is incredibly deep. The overall combat mechanics are similarly complex, with a combination of timing and move selection determining your efficacy and meaning you’ll be engaged throughout the tens of minutes the longer fights may take. There’s a lot to take in – this is a game where I could use the phrase ‘auto-attack cancelling into an ether skill to charge up a level 3 blade combo that gives me enough elemental orbs to reach full burst during my chain attack’, and it actually makes sense – but once it’s familiar, it is wholly satisfying, probably the best of the Xenoblades 1 through 3.

TL;DR

• Combat mechanics are deep, allowing you to find your own style
• A vast game and story will keep you entertained for hours
• Upgrades for Switch 2 means the game look and run great

The Bad

It is worth being clear what the Switch 2 update is and is not – unlike the re-released Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles X, this is not a remaster or a definitive edition; it is simply an update to the 2018 game. The Torna DLC is not included, though it does benefit from the graphical and performance upgrades if you have it already. And while those upgrades are excellent, the other items offered do not particularly add much to the experience.

The update provides one exclusive blade – MoMo (who is a nice reference to the earlier Xenosaga series but little more), a new cosmetic for two of the main characters, and a new gameplay mode called ‘merc assault’. In theory this is the biggest addition, as you take on small challenge battles while controlling the blades you send on it directly (as opposed to the main characters who the blades are linked to). The gameplay is a simplified, more button-mashy version of the main combat and, as such, will not keep you diverted for long, with only the hardcore using it as a quicker way to grind certain missions.

Monolith Soft has also taken the opportunity of the Switch 2 edition to make a small quality-of-life change that means less time jumping in and out of menus to manage your party when exploring. This is greatly appreciated but also throws into relief just how many other QoL updates the 2018 game would benefit from. An item compendium, a bestiary, more than one save slot, a better quest menu, and plenty more are all still not present, despite being in prior and subsequent Xenoblade games. It just feels like a missed opportunity.

Also still remaining is the biggest bugbear people had with the original game, and it's such an annoyance it bears its own paragraph: the gacha mechanics. You unlock more blades for your team via unlocking special crystals you collect. The blade you get is random and usually a generic robot figure with no real personality. But there are a selection of ‘special’ blades, who are their own characters with their own special abilities, side quests and cutscenes. These are characters you want to join you. They make the game more fun. And they may never appear, because you are at the mercy of random chance. And not a very high chance at that. It is an infuriating design decision.

TL;DR

• Apart from graphics, the other Switch 2 additions are a little lacklustre
• Some QoL additions are missing
• Gacha mechanics for characters remain infuriating

Final Score: 8/10

When I think of Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the word I keep coming back to is 'big'. It is big in almost all permutations of the word. The environments? Vast. The story? Epic. The combat? Startlingly deep. The accents? Huge, and from all over the place. Fortunately for the most part, bigger does mean better, giving you a game to happily spend tens of hours in. The Switch 2 update may not provide too many new things, but it crucially makes this game look and run so much better; it’s enough reason for newcomers to try it out and veterans to pick it up again all these years later.

Thank you for checking out our Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Switch 2 review, thank you to Nintendo AU/NZ for providing the review code and thank you to our Patreon Backers for their ongoing support:

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