Xenoblade Chronicles X is One to Watch
Xenoblade Chronicles X is brilliant. Take everything that you loved about the 2010 Wii exclusive, throw in some fan service from the entire Xenoseries, polish it off with HD visuals, and you have what may be the most impressive RPG experience at E3 2014.
The Xenoverse Expanded
When Xenoblade Chronicles X was announced as a Wii U exclusive during last year’s e3 Nintendo Direct, people were amazed by what they saw. This year, Nintendo decided to completely tear the lid off of the game and shocked everyone with not only a 2015 release date, but with “X’s” beautiful graphics, game play, and compelling story.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is not a direct sequel to 2010’s Xenoblade Chronicles. It is a spiritual successor that will focus on the philosophies explored within Xenoblade and its predecessors Xenogears, and Xenosaga, which all share various similarities throughout the same universe. The game grasps the gorgeous art direction of the Xenoseries and is set to captivate audiences with its unique man vs machine style of prose, free roaming mech battles, and the bonds held between mankind’s last remaining saviors.
Earth has been Obliterated
The characters of Xenoblade Chronicles X very quickly become locked in an intergalactic war. The main focus of their struggle begins when they are forced to fight for the future of their species as two invading alien races collide above Earth. The planet is being demolished in their wake. Mankind tries to fight the alien menaces with mechs and weapons they’ve created; however, their attempts to intervene are irrelevant at this point. As a last ditch effort, the inhabitants of Earth attempt to escape the planet in enormous city-sized escape pods before this event marks their extinction. As these massive pods are ejected into space, Earth explodes into dust, and they are quickly pursued by the aliens that have obliterated their home. This is where Xenoblade Chronicles X begins.
New features
The extensive amount of footage displayed at the Nintendo Tree house event provided several new exciting features to this 16 year old franchise. Xenoblade Chronicles X looks to have a deep and thoughtful character creator that the player can simply get lost in. Choose the color of your character’s eyes: maybe you choose the color of your own, or maybe you abandon organics altogether and chose mechanical ones. Would you like silver hair? Freckles? The options are seemingly limitless. After creating your character, the game opens up into a massive open-world experience where you can play however you choose. Leveling up would be a great idea, but sightseeing and story progression are completely up to the player.
Xenoblade Chronicles X expands the rather comfortable battle system that was the main focus of the original Xenoblade. The active time battle system comes alive in a real time environment that allows the player the freedom to run behind enemies to expose weak spots, or take a head on approach for a frontal assault. “Arts” are back, which provide special moves for your characters that you can use in battle. As you level up you gain more “Arts”, which is a new feature in Xenoblade Chronicles X. “Arts” were handled differently in Xenoblade Chronicles as they were gained by obtaining training manuals and completing quests. You can also change classes in the heat of battle which is a very welcomed improvement over its predecessor. From defense to offensive, you can switch on the fly which provides an extremely liberating strategy to take down enemies. You can evolve with the battle like never before. After unlocking several classes through levels, you can begin to mix and match “Arts” so that you can really begin to start owning your character and exploiting your enemies weaknesses.
Conclusion
The next iteration of the Xenoseries is among us and the game is shaping up to be one incredible experience. If you need only one game to bring your to Wii U, this might be the one to look out for.