Xenoblade Chronicles

Xenoblade Chronicles (, Xenoblade) is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It was released in 2010 in Japan, in 2011 in Europe and in 2012 in North America for the Wii. In 2015, the game was ported to the New Nintendo 3DS as Xenoblade Chronicles 3D. An enhanced remake of the game was released in 2020 for the Nintendo Switch as Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.

Development
The game started development back in July 2006, around the same time Xenosaga Episode III was released. It started with a clay model of the Bionis and Mechonis by Yasuyuki Honne. Unlike the previous games in the Xeno series, the next game was meant to have a larger focus on being fun rather than story-telling due to criticism of the series leading to low morale in the team.

The game was revealed at E3 2009 under the working title Monado: Beginning of the World. The title was later changed to Xenoblade in Japan, a change publicly credited to honour Takahashi, but may have also been in response to being unable to secure a trademark for the name. The Monado title remained as the planned name for North America, even after its release was officially cancelled. It was named Xenoblade Chronicles for its 2011 release in Europe for unclear reasons.

A fan campaign called Operation Rainfall allegedly led to Xenoblade Chronicles eventually launching in North America in 2012, along with The Last Story and Pandora's Tower, albeit the latter two titles were originally published for the North American market by Xseed Games rather than Nintendo. Nintendo of America released Xenoblade Chronicles using its European localisation without any apparent changes.

Plot
Long ago on an endless sea, two great titans fought and died, with their bodies forming the world upon which life arose - the Homs on the Bionis, and the Mechon on the Mechonis. The war between the two forces continues, with the Homs attempting to repel the invading Mechon. After a year of peace, a new threat emerges, and it falls to Shulk to fight them off with the Monado - a legendary blade with many secrets.

Gameplay

 * See also: Xenoblade Chronicles (series)

Battle
Up to three characters can be in the party at once. They periodically use s to deal and fill up the Talent Gauge. Filling it up allows the player to use their. Up to eight other s are available to the player at once. Once used, they enter a cooldown phase and the player has to wait until the art can be used again. Once the is full, a  can be started. The Party gauge is also used for reviving incapacitated party members. If the enemy is about to unleash a strong attack, a Vision may appear. This gives the player some time to react and prepare for the attack.

Field
Outside of battles, the player can accept s from s where enemies must be slain, items collected, or other NPCs talked to. Crystal Deposits that are located all over Bionis and Mechonis give Crystals that can be used to craft s. Collectables can be registered in the or can be used together with s to reconstruct Colony 6. Talking to named NPCs might create or alter links on the.

Digital re-release
The original Wii version was digitally re-released via the Nintendo eShop on the Wii U console in August 2015 in Europe and Oceania, April 2016 in North America, and July 2016 in Japan. It has no differences from the original physical Wii disc release other than the convenience of playing the game on the Wii U without explicitly accessing Wii Mode, which the disc version requires playing on the Wii U console. The Wii U is backwards compatible with all Wii games.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3D
A port of the game was released in 2015 for the New Nintendo 3DS. It added a few features, like the Jukebox.

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition
A remaster of the game was released on May 29th 2020 on the Nintendo Switch. It features significant graphical upgrades, rerecorded music, the time attack mode and most interestingly new story content in the form of Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected.

Trivia

 * Xenoblade Chronicles is one of only three downloadable Wii games on Wii U to support the Classic Controller (Pro), and therefore also the Wii U Gamepad, the other two games being Pandora's Tower and Sin & Punishment: Successor of the Skies/Star Successor.