Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition (NSP, XCI) ROM + v1.1.2 Update

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is an enhanced version of the original Xenoblade Chronicles game released in 2010 for the Nintendo Wii. It was developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch in 2020. also is a series of action role-playing games developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. The series began with the original Xenoblade Chronicles game, published for the Nintendo Wii in 2010. Though initially only released in Japan, it was localized into other regions as a result of Operation Rainfall, a large grass-roots fan campaign to pressure Nintendo to localize several Japan-exclusive games.

GAMEPLAY

The gameplay within the Xenoblade Chronicles series uses a real-time action-based battle system, where the player manually moves a character in real-time, and party members will “auto-attack” when enemies enter their attack radius. Manually input attacks, called “Arts”, may also be performed, but in a limited fashion. Battle Arts are only available after a “cool down” period that occurs after every use, while character-specific “Talent Arts” only become available after enough auto-attacks are executed. Both party members and enemies have a finite number of health points, and attacks deplete this value. Combat is won when all enemies lose their HP, but the game is lost if the player’s character loses all their HP and has no means of being revived.

Health may be restored by the player by using healing Arts in battle, or the player may let characters’ HP regenerate automatically outside of battle. Winning battles earns the player experience points, which allows the characters to grow stronger by leveling up and learning new Arts. Arts for each character must be set by the player on their respective setup, called a “Battle Palette”, outside of battles. Another defining aspect of the Xenoblade Chronicles games is exploration. In each game, players are encouraged to freely explore the open-world environments. Players can discover locations and landmarks, which in turn grants them experience points. Once landmarks are discovered, players can use them as fast travel points.

STORY AND AUDIO

The Xenoblade Chronicles series has been praised and highly regarded for its sheer variety of video game music across all of the games’ soundtracks. The main composers are Yoko Shimomura, Hiroyuki Sawano, and most notably Yasunori Mitsuda. Other music composers who have been involved in the soundtracks include Manami Kiyota, ACE (a musical duo consisting of Tomori Kudo and Hiroyo “Chico” Yamanaka), Kenji Hiramatsu, and Mariam Abounnasr.

The stories are largely self-contained in each game in the Xenoblade Chronicles series, however, the numbered Xenoblade Chronicles games are linked through the origins of their fictional universes. Dismayed by the state of the Earth, the scientist Klaus desired to reboot the world and create a new universe.

His coworker Galea attempted to reason with him to prevent the world from collapsing. Ultimately, she failed to change his mind as he initiated the experiment to harness the Conduit, an alien artifact that acted as an unlimited energy source and dimensional gateway. This process resulted in the formation of the worlds of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Sometime after the events of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the two worlds were on a collision course known as the Intersection. Fearing the total oblivion of their respective universes, the people of both worlds communicated and each began the construction of one half of Origin, a structure containing the memories and souls of both worlds, designed to rebirth the collective people and safely reboot the worlds. However, Origin’s A.I. was corrupted by the fearful desires for security and stability of the digitized souls it contained, which led to the events of Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

PLOT

While the Xenoblade games do not share any setting directly, its universes are directly linked, except for Xenoblade Chronicles X which is regarded as a spiritual successor. Two colossal titans known as the Bionis and the Mechonis serve as the setting for Xenoblade Chronicles; with the Future Connected epilogue taking place in a smaller area, the Bionis’s shoulder. Xenoblade Chronicles X takes place on an alien planet known as Mira. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and its prequel Torna – The Golden Country take place in the world of Alrest, which contains several titans that house many different nations. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 takes place in the world of Aionios, a large continent made up of areas from Bionis and Alrest.

CHARACTERS

To make each individual title in the series accessible for newcomers, a new cast of characters is introduced each time. Contrary to the developers’ claim of making the games standalone experiences, a few characters have returned as part of the overarching narrative. Shulk and Rex, the main protagonists of Xenoblade Chronicles and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 respectively, reappear for the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC campaign, Future Redeemed. Similarly, Melia Antiqua and Nia return as the Queens of Keves and Agnus in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

There are a few recurring character themes, with no narrative ties to previous games in the series. Much like Cid in the Final Fantasy series, Vandham is a recurring character name who has been in every Xenoblade Chronicles game, even tracing back to its roots in earlier Xeno games. Jack Vandham, Vandham, and Guernica Vandham appeared in Xenoblade Chronicles X, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 respectively. Vandham also has a version in Xenoblade Chronicles that was renamed to Colonel Vangarre in the English localization.

The Nopon are a recurring type of creature found in every entry in the series. They are a race of small winged hamster-like creatures, most of whom are known for their greedy and innocent behavior. Each game typically has a Nopon character who is either a playable party member or a travel companion. Another recurring character theme is a creature resembling a gorilla, typically named Territorial Rotbart at or around level 81. Territorial Rotbart or any other variation of a level 81 Unique Monster, is typically found in an early starting zone that terrorizes players once encountered.