Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a role-playing video game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. It was released in 2017 for the Nintendo Switch.

Plot
Rex is salvaging for treasure in the Cloud Sea. When he wants to trade today's loot for money in Argentum Trade Guild, he gets called to. He introduced him to Malos, Jin and Nia and offers him 100,000G in advance for a salvaging job on an Ancient Ship sunken deep below the Cloud Sea. He accepts and makes necessary preparations. After travelling to the site with the C.S.E.V. Maelstrom and lifting the ship above the surface, he ventures in together with Malos, Jin and Nia. They ask him to open a sealed door. Behind it, he finds a girl in a capsule, seemingly unconscious, together with a red sword. Rex is about to stretch his hand out to that sword, but Malos tells him to not get any closer. After Rex accidentally touches it anyway, Jin rushes to him and stabs him in the back. He falls dead and finds himself in a place where that girl is standing next to a lonely tree. Rex approaches her, and she tells him that she is a called Pyra and that this place is Elysium as she remembers it in her dreams. Pyra revives him by giving him half of her life force after he promises her to bring her to Elysium in the real world. They attack Malos on the deck of the Ancient Ship and escape together with Nia, who was upset about the actions of Malos and Jin, and her blade Dromarch, on the back of the Titan Azurda that Rex lives on.

Gameplay

 * See also: Xenoblade Chronicles (series)

Battle
Unlike previous games in the series, only three Driver Arts are available to the player. However, up to three s can be equipped to each Driver. This results in up to nine different arts available to the player during battles, in addition to s, attacks that may trigger a Blade Combo. Blade Combos happen in three stages, requiring a specific Blade's element to go down a certain route, along with a special whose level is equal or higher than the Blade Combo's stage. The combo ends at the third stage, dealing high amounts of damage and adding an additional effect during the battle, such as sealing a specific debuff, which persists until another third stage Blade Combo is performed.

Statuses have received significant changes, with no longer being followed by, instead being replaced by , which itself can be followed by , performing a full Driver Combo. Moreover, both Blade Combos and Driver Combos interract with each others, allowing for higher damage numbers from Blade Combos when used together.

s have also received significant changes. Much like the previous games, chain attacks can be initiated after the party gauge has been fully charged. However, rather than the chain continuing another round being up to random chance, Elemental Orbs must be shattered to continue the chain attack. These orbs appear on the enemy after completing a third stage Blade Combo, with the orb taking after the element of the last used Special.

Field
The game mostly takes place on multiple smaller Titans like Gormott or Uraya. s can be accepted from s that involve things like collecting items, defeating enemies, or talking to other NPCs.

Another feature is the Blade's s. By meeting certain requirements, their skills can be leveled up. This includes s which, as the name hints, are used on the field during quests or exploration.

Some of the areas, those most populated, have a Development Level, which can be increased by doing many things, such as talking to NPCs, completing quests, buying items in s or discovering s and s. Increasing the development level will lower the prices of items sold at shops.

Blades can also be sent on Merc Missions that run passively in the background, with most of them able to be shortened by sending Blades with the mission's suggested Field Skills. Many Merc Missions are given by increasing a nation's Development level, most of the time automatically, though some are given by talking to NPCs or during quests.

Japanese-Voice Pack
On the same day Xenoblade Chronicles 2 released, a free downloadable content was released that allows players to choose to play through the game with the Japanese voices. This DLC is exclusive to the international release of the game; there is no such DLC that adds English voices to the Japanese and Chinese version.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Expansion Pass
The Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Expansion Pass is a collection of paid downloadable content for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It includes free items, new Quests, new Rare Blades, a Challenge Battle Mode, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country.