Hands On: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – A Decade On, Mira’s Still Got It – Nintendo Life

GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpNintendo LifeGuestLogin or Sign UpA Skell of a good timeIt’s been absolutely ages since we last set foot on Mira, the planet on which humanity seeks refuge from an alien threat in Xenoblade Chronicles X. It was perhaps only a year or two after the game first released on Wii U, in fact, that we last played it, and our overriding memory (besides the fact that it’s incredible) is of an experience that needed to be unshackled, at a fundamental level, from hardware that was holding it back.Now, it’s not like Xenoblade Chronicles X was a mess or anything like that. It ran at a locked 30fps, as far as we recall, and it looked amazing, but it was a slice of sci-fi that often felt muddy, hard to read, and unwieldy when it shouldn’t. The sort of game that was crying out for a great big resolution bump so we could enjoy its gorgeous locations in full, at the very least.And so here we are, 10 years down the line from the game’s original 2015 release (what is time?), and Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is imminent. We weren’t quite as surprised at the announcement of this remaster as we would have been a few years back — it’s felt like a sure thing given how popular the other franchise revamps turned out — but, needless to say, we’ve been champing at the bit to finally get our hands on this new version of this particular writer’s favourite entry in the series.For this preview we’ve been limited to talking about the first four chapters of the game and, well, all of the little changes that you’ll already know about: the resolution bump to (what seems like) 1920×1080, the UI improvements, fancy new lighting and character models, all of which combines to make for an experience that feels renewed and reborn, right from the get-go.It wouldn’t be a Xenoblade game if it didn’t take its sweet time getting started, and the first four chapters you mostly spend getting au fait with traversing the world, whilst developing a feel for on-foot combat techniques that will, eventually, bleed into the skills you’ll need to pilot a Skell, the game’s absolutely awesome mechs.And immediately, the overhauled UI and menus make themselves felt, as choosing from abilities during early-game sorties is now a breeze that doesn’t require any permanent eyestrain on your part.It may sound like a small point, granted, but if you’ve played the OG you’ll know that the UI during combat was a mess at times, really barely legible once things started heating up, and this, combined with menus that oftentimes felt a little clunky to manage, especially when it came to navigation, made for a lot of drudgery where there shouldn’t have been any.The switch (thanks) from the Wii U GamePad showing various menus is seamlessly done overall, too, everything is still easy to access, and you now have these clean, upscaled, swishy icons with enough space between them to keep things readable, nicely redesigned fonts, and even a Follow Ball mechanic that’s been improved to guide you to missions and side quests with ease. The bottom right-hand corner of the screen also now has info panels you can bring up with a click of ‘R3’ to show you exactly where you want to go (via Follow Ball) and what you need to do at any given time.Mira is just a much, much easier place to navigate in general as a result of all of this, and that big resolution bump from 720p makes itself felt as soon as you reach your first jaw-dropping vista – which doesn’t take long. Everything is so much clearer, so much more inviting, and we cannot wait to finally get into a Skell and start blasting around to put what’s been a rock-solid 30fps to the test properly from Chapter 5 onwards. Oh, and the loading times are way, way down on what we recall from the Wii U, to the point they aren’t noticeable.Going back to the game’s combat, and beyond those redesigned UI elements, you’ve also got the addition of Quick Cast, which is actually turning out to be a game-changer in terms of the tempo of scraps. You can now hoover up charge as you battle enemies in order to fill the new green gauge you can see in combat screenshots. Once this is full, you can press ‘Y’ to essentially reload a chosen skill or power, giving you an instant re-use, or even a few re-uses depending on how much juice is required.This gives you the power to call in hits as your other party members request them with much more fluidity. Where in the original game, you may have missed a squad member’s call to topple or confuse a foe and then had to wait, here — even if you’ve just used the attack requested — Quick Cast allows you to go again. So, what seems like a small tweak is actually turning out to be quite a big thing that can get combos going and keep the damage numbers up against larger foes. This, in turn, makes for fights that, already feeling much better for that improved UI, just have a better sense of momentum.And of course, all these little mechanical wins that we’ve discovered so far bask in the overall glow of a world, and cast of characters, that have never looked better. The revamp here falls in line with part one, keeping things as you remember them for the most part in terms of colour palettes, but giving every face and item of armour, every wall and tree, a glow-up that brings it in line with modern fare, whilst also fixing bothersome stuff like some of the awful pop-in from 2015’s version.We should also mention, for returning BLADES, that you can no longer ghost through vehicles and Skells in downtown New Los Angeles. The Switch can handle it, no problemo.With regards to character styling, as you’ll likely already know, the customisation suite now has more options in the way of hairstyles and so on, as well as allowing you to put big Monado sword tattoos on your face. The more massive sword tattoos on your faces, the merrier, we say.You can also select from hairstyles and other bits and pieces from classic characters from the series. Although, as you may be able to see from our screens, we’ve gone with ‘very, very tired and disillusioned old man’ as our protagonist’s vibe circa 2025.And so, as we approach the game’s fifth chapter, which is where the fun really begins in this one, we’re enraptured all over again. Xenoblade Chronicles X is a very special game, a game we’ve been dying to see come to Switch, and so far it seems the overhaul and tweaks that have been made are giving us an experience that’s beyond what we thought it could be.It now looks and feels every bit as good as the most recent entries in the franchise, the muddiness in the UI and graphics is gone, the new Quick Cast ability has big consequences for how fast and fluid everything feels, and there’s lots more little wrinkles and additions — such as optional onscreen combo prompts — that we’re sure we’ll see the full benefit of as the game progresses.There’s an immediacy, too, with the story in Xenoblade Chronicles X, that gets you interested in super short order – as slow as it may be in letting you off the leash. The quest to rescue great big vaults full of cryogenically frozen humans that kicks things off is just what you need to invest emotionally, and it’s a fully independent story within the universe. So, for any newcomers who’re currently thinking, ‘Phwoar, I’ll have a bit of that’ like somebody’s old man in the 1970s, there’s nothing to stop you jumping in without having played all the others first. Phew!Now, how on Mira do you control this massive flipping robot?About PJ O’ReillyPJ is a staff writer across Pure Xbox and Nintendo Life. He’s been playing video games pretty much nonstop since the early 1980s, loves his RPGs more than most, and continues to pretend to himself that his reflexes haven’t slowed at all over the past four decades of continuous play.Comments 53Damn this game looks even better than I remember, the new UI’s gonna go a long way towards making it play better. Can’t wait for new players to experience this one.I wish I could play this now, will The Game Collection UK, ship copies early, they gave me, The legend of heroes Trails Through Daybreak II on February 7 2025, a week earlier than release day.One more nail in my old Wii U’s coffin and I’m happy to see it!One of my favorite memories of the game is when an NPC asks me to find an item they dropped in the vast wilderness. It was still fairly early in the game and I assumed it was a quick, easy mission. I track the item location and realize to my horror that it is in front of a pack of sleeping monsters that are 20 levels higher than me.I did the ol’ grab and dash and prayed they targeted my team mates rather than me.Good times. (:How’s the resolution in handheld mode (if you even got to try it out)?But running at 1080p in docked mode makes me confident that it may look decent in handheld modeCause the resolution in handheld mode is my biggest problem with the other XC games on SwitchThanks for the Hands On, looking forward to the full review and playing this as soon as my discounted physical copy arrives – seems like a great way for me to finally start the Xenoblade Chronicles series (I’ve barely played the very first one on Wii, but that really doesn’t count)!Sounds great and all, but how does it run in handheld? 540p? Blurry visuals?The only dealbreaker is if they’ve kept the godawful Skell insurance mechanic.I’m so excited to revisit this game. The first time I played through, Monster Hunter World came out. And I was so close to the end! But monhun… (Luckily I don’t have the proper hardware for Wilds or I’d be screwed this time too!Interesting to see all that. So it will be the first Xenoblade game to be 1080p is not that much of a surprise, since the original was already 720p, but I’m not complaining. I’m surprised however that the cars are not ghosts anymore, but it’s good news for all improvements Monolith Soft did. Seems the text in cutscenes have the same font as XC1 DE, which is the best IMO. Like everybody says, it was a nighmare on Wii U and one of the main reasons I never finished the original, unfortunately. I was sold day 1, but I’m even more excited now! Thank you for that awesome preview!I’m curious about the resolution, is it actually proper 1080p docked / 720p handheld, or is it using sub-native resolutions with “super-resolution” tricks like Tears of the Kingdom’s docked 900p using FidelityFX?Either way, it sounds like a big upgrade over the Wii U version that I never got to play, and am really looking forward to playing the one Xenoblade entry I’ve yet to experience.This was a great read thanks PJ.Looking forward to Switch 2 being able to upgrade the game to 60fps 😁(hopefully)Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was the only other Switch game that I double dipped on that was from the Wii U, but that was an evergreen title, and MK9 was nowhere to be found. But this here? I absolutely have to play this all over again, and I can’t stress enough that that’s something I usually don’t do for RPGs. This game is that good.I want to know if the game has online and how it works! (and well if the game doesnt end in a cliffhanger)Can’t wait, so excited!A few heads up for reviewers with the upcoming release of Xenoblade X definitive edition.The game is not a spin-off, never was, never was called as such by the developers. Was never a black sheep either, its critical reception is higher than 2 and torna, and its user reception is as high as 1 definitive edition.Also, careful with strong statements such as has no connection with the rest of the franchise. This does not match what said by developers in interviews around the time of 1 definitive edition. Instead, just say “you don’t need to play other games to play and understand this one”, which can also be said for each entry in the blade franchise, and is a more future proof statement.On the game, please remember to check the options menu, there may be options there to customize the battle UI to make it even more clear.For performance, remember that Zelda BOTW (which is also a Wii U game) and TOTK have several instances of noticeable frame drops, from kakariko, deku tree, launching enemies with two-hand sword, and going a bit over the top on crafting. If you guys mostly ignored these problems in Zelda, you won’t mind any minor potential rare drops in XDE, for consistency, right, right?And since I mentioned Zelda, let’s talk about the silent avatar. Not all modern games put voices in the avatars, you guys are fine with Zelda and Baldur gates 3 doing silent avatar, so it comes to reason you should be fine with a silent avatar in XDE as well.On Story and open world structure, remember that in Zelda TOTK, if you do tear of the dragon sidequest early you basically breaks the story, because then you are forced to watch characters making a bunch of dump questions or statements regarding Princess Zelda, and cannot do anything about because link, who is supposed to be you in the world, is not given an option to tell them what he/we already figured out eons ago, and yet many of you call that game an open world masterpiece. TOTK story is also full of inconsistencies regarding the events of BOTW, its direct prequel. Yet many of you fully ignored that. So I very much hope that, for consistency sake, I will not see some of you making a big deal of the Avatar in X not having much agency in the (main) story or about story quality…Also, the avatar in X is effectively the Point of View character, but not the main character of the story, that, is clearly Elma. And that is FINE. There is no hard rules that says that the PoV char also has to be the main character. And if you, for some reason, needs to feel like the main character of the story, simply put Elma as the leader in the menu and play as her, done, simple as that. The avatar has a lot of weight however on the sidequests (normal and affinity missions), which is also story, regardless of not being mandatory, and are a big part of the experience.On X being “too different” from the other Xenoblade, please, please be careful with hyperboles. While yes, it is different, it is not THAT different, we had entries in the Zelda series that are less alike between each other than that, and most of you don’t make a big deal out of it. Not to say then of Final Fantasy where the games can vary widely. So again, not a huge deal.@DorkusGunplakus not blurry in the slightest! It looks real sharp.@RupeeClock it seems to me, and I can’t 100% confirm, but it looks and feels like 1080p/720 for docked/handheld. It really looks pin sharp in portable.@PJOReilly It’s possible that the game has dynamic resolution during the busier moments, but I saw Nintendo Life’s YouTube Channel has a comparison video live that I’m looking forward to checking out later.One of Xenoblade 2’s tricks was that they afforded more detail and fidelity during the cutscenes, since they can control everything in the scene. It helps to mask how fuzzy the game can look during gameplay.@joenightwalker Thank the gods you’re here to enforce review standards. Don’t know what we’d do without you.@joenightwalker <—— this guy xenoblades!hope we get a sequel to X the ending left so many unanswered questions like who actual responsible for keeping them from leaving the planet,the mysterious mech that runs on black matter which had emma quite concerned along with who stoled the data pods from the ship that contain the people genes along with the mysterious figure we see at the end finding the guy on the beach at the end. Plus i have a feeling this game is tied to other xenoblade games in some shape or form.Ahhh I don't need this, but it looks so gooooood. XCX was one of those rare games for me where the hours would just disappear while playing.@Erigen I left my team to die a lot in this game lol I understand. I always revived them though so no harsh feelings right?considering y'all got hands on in the game, can you confrim whether or not all the elements of the character customization are there? or did you not get to make your character).I'll get the game regardless, but I really would like to get that confirmation.Can't wait for this. My Wii U went a bit loopy so returning to my old save is sadly unlikely. Lots talked about the text size which I didn't really notice. This is a growing issue, even on TVs and I don't get the drive to transfer every text to microfiche. Recently picked up Bloomtown which seems awesome but is utterly ruined by the tiny speech text@Indielink you would be surprised by how many "professional" reviews let mistakes slip in. I will never forget the one from Astral Chain (not from Nintendo Life) where the reviewer claimed the game has no reward/trophy system on the battles like other platinum games, only for people to find out that is the case only when you play on easy mode...Nice it will work great on Switch. Can wait for my copy to arrive soon enough.This will inevitably be my most played Switch game this year, and will be competing with Monster Hunter Wilds for most played game overall. Cannot wait.One of my all-time favorite games, back, and better than ever. The fun thing is? Having done so much to explore last time around? I think this time around, I'm gonna be much more thorough going world-by-world... it'll probably help me from eating a bunch of team-wipes too and actually get used to combat instead of just trying to power through everything like a brute. XDI'm disappointed that some of the major flaws of the game (at least for me) weren't addressed in this article. Like Skell insurance being in the game or not, and if its as bad as it was in the OG game.Also the censorship that was in the OG, not being able to change the breast size of your female characters. Which was weird to remove in the first place.Then there's the boss scaling. (But that doesn't become an issue till close to endgame, so that's understandable.)The biggest gripe I actually have is the character re-recruitment. Having to go around New Los Angeles at specific times to find your 4th party member was EXCRUCIATING. I'm still waiting to know if they fixed that or not, making a hub or being able to call them over to be added to your team. It would be a severe QoL change that's incredibly needed.I'm still not getting the game until these issues are talked about, ESPECIALLY the last bit and the censorship issues.I can't believe the entire Xenoblade series will be available on one Nintendo console once X is released, and I've yet to play any. I need to rectify this asap. I still have a favourite moment though - Nintendo re-releasing the first game on Switch and watching all the Wii copies suddenly depreciate in value on eBay 😂Very excited for this. Never really played it on Wii U, so I’m hyped to actually go through it this time. Glad to hear it runs well, not that I had any doubts. Monolith Soft are absolute wizards when it comes to their games. Preordered already and excited for next month!Is it easier to heal and revive in this version? It was absolutely miserable running out of TP and being unable to revive party members, and trying to rely on annoying mechanics like Soul Voices to heal your party a bit.I've never had this particular issue with any other Xenoblade game, but it was a major roadblock when I played X.In general, I also just found the systems and customization to be confusing. Even moreso than XC2.Great write-up! It'll be some time before I revisit this one, but MAN will it be worth it! Due to space issues, I was only able to download a couple of the digital improvement packs on the Wii U, so it'll be nice to experience this game with less jank...and hopefully with more closure.I was already excited, having skipped this one back in the day. But after reading this article, it got me even more hyped, no, pumped, no, full on Xeno’d.I always heard you don’t get a skell until late in the game but from the sounds of it, that’s not the case. Can’t wait to play this!I'm ready for it.I think I put 100+ hours into the Wii U version. I'm pretty sure it was the penultimate Wii U game I purchased in fact before BOTW. Probably won't come back to it, but there's a lot there for someone who's never played before!This game world is the best I've ever played, and the real story lies in the evolution of New LA.Exploring the game world avoiding one hit enemies, it's simply awesome.I would have wished for a change in the battle system, to a more easy to access system, more action... I think the day they change the battle system, Xenoblade games, they will sell like hotcakes.X It's a wonderfull game, a true gem that still resembles on my interior. I'm crossing fingers for a real 30fps solid gameplay, because that's what I,m not seeing in videos.-faster loading times -collisions with NLA vehicles -pop-in addressed -new Quick cast mechanic (bonus!)Well, I guess I got what I wanted. Sold, day 1!@Ralizah There’s purchasable TP items in NLA. Other than that, I forgot if it was augments, skills, or activating Overdrive in combat (or all 3) that boosts TP and heals). You’ll also definitely want to answer your party’s Soul Calls with the same color arts/attacks and do the B button QTE’s.@LunacyJosh @RadioHedgeFund The answer to your money problem is exploring the world to plant probes, then upgrading said probes as the game goes on. A necessary game mechanic they introduce very early on. It’s free money and Miranium over time. And for the time of day stuff, go back to the barracks to rest so you can set the time of day. That can also be done at any BLADE camp in the world for hunting Tyrants, etc.This was the only game that made me regret parting ways with my Wii U, even though I found it to be nearly unplayable back in the day – just too kludgy for most all of the reasons listed above. I've already pre-ordered. Let's go. I've been looking forward to almost nothing coming to Switch for quite some time - this more than makes up for it.@masterLEON It’s the principle of it! They advertise these cool transformers right on the box and then when you get to throw them into battle, you’re always apprehensive because of the cost of fixing the damned things. How it got past the concept stage I’ll never know.It’s like putting car insurance in Forza Horizon with the game charging you credits for every collision!Huh. Looking good!Gotta wonder though, will there still be that one combo that's incredibly broken from the OG? (Forget exactly what it was, but it includes that ghost walker tech.)@RadioHedgeFund technically Forza DOES do that, since rewinding cuts your pay each time you use it in a race.I just realized that this game launch coincides with my vacation (staycation), so I know what I will be doing.@RadioHedgeFund Why not reload from a save? It’s an RPG after all. And especially since there’s a higher chance here of being ganked from an unseen roaming, named tyrant or what you’re fighting is hitting you with an element that you are simply not equipped to handle (Gravity and Sleep come to mind). I think it’s a justifiable strategy, IMO. IIRC, I believe I still had 1 insurance voucher left on my save. Then again, it was probably me being in places I shouldn’t have been more often than not for the sake of exploring that I manually save compulsively.@PJOReilly neat that handheld is sharp since i still remember Xenoblade 2 being a nightmare in handheld (though DE improved somewhat and 3 was MUCH better in handheld)hoping it can keep a stable 30fps in handheld also,in general its sounding like this is a great remaster and am looking forward to its release since i loved the hell out of it on wiiu.a couple of things im curious to see is whether theres more than one save file this time (though at the very least can make another account like i did on wiiu) and if there is volume options like they added to DE since i often found the voices in these games could drown out the battle music.Got it preordered. This is the only XC I’ve never played and / or beaten since it’s been trapped on Wii U. The three mainline XC are some of my favorite JRPGs of all time. Can’t wait to try on X.Devil's Third keeping Wii U's memory alive!You know what else is keeping Wii U's memory alive? Raspberry Pi@Tyaku oh, you are in for a TREATI'm assuming this is still running at 30fps? I was hoping for 60fps, I'm running XCX on Cemu right now at 1080p at 60fps, and the game just pops, it is so beautiful.@LunacyJosh Good news! I saw screenshots on Twitter that you can now recruit from a menu! No more running around! Also, I read that changing time of day can also be done anywhere, presumably from the menu. Monolith Soft really went in on the QoL features! Show CommentsLeave A CommentHold on there, you need to login to post a comment...Nintendo Is Discontinuing Gold Points, One Of The Switch's Best IncentivesNoooo, don't do it!Toby Fox Shares Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3 And 4"Still console testing"Hollow Knight: Silksong Briefly Vanishes From US Switch eShop, But It's Back NowUpdate: Restored after a few hoursSonic Racing: CrossWorlds Adds Characters From "SEGA Universes"Update: IGN has an exclusive preview upMario & Luigi: Brothership Version 1.0.1 Now Available, Here Are The Full Patch NotesDownload it todayGame ProfileTitle:Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive EditionSystem:Nintendo SwitchPublisher:NintendoDeveloper:Monolith SoftGenre:RPGPlayers:1 (32 Online)Release Date:Nintendo SwitchSeries:Xenoblade ChroniclesOfficial Site:nintendo.comWhere to buy:Pre Order on Amazon Buy eShop Credit:€100€75€50€25€15 €100€75€50€25€15 €99€50€35€25€10 ₣150₣110₣75₣35₣20 €50€25€15 1,000 Kr.750 Kr.500 Kr.250 Kr.150 Kr. €100€75€50€25€15 €50€25€15 €50€25€15 £100£75£50£25£15 €100€75€50€25€15 €50€25€15 €100€75€50€25€15 €100€75€50€25€15 1,000 kr750 kr500 kr250 kr150 kr zł 500zł 370zł 250zł 120zł 70 €100€75€50€25€15 1,000 kr750 kr500 kr250 kr150 kr $50$20$10 42Video Let's Compare Xenoblade Chronicles X On Wii U And Switch 40Gallery Here's Another Look At Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition For Switch 19UK Charts Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Pushes Donkey Kong Further Down 43News Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Digital File Size Seemingly Reduced 60News Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch GamesNews Nintendo Is Discontinuing Gold Points, One Of The Switch's Best IncentivesNews Toby Fox Shares Development Update On Deltarune Chapter 3 And 4News Hollow Knight: Silksong Briefly Vanishes From US Switch eShop, But It's ...News Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Adds Characters From "SEGA Universes"News Mario & Luigi: Brothership Version 1.0.1 Now Available, Here Are The...News Funko Fusion Is Deemed A "Complete Commercial And Critical Failure&...News Nintendo Has Renewed Some TrademarksNews DC x Sonic The Hedgehog First Issue Cover Art Officially RevealedNews Nintendo Power Artist "Hadn't Actually Played Any Zelda Games"...Guide Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds: Full Character Roster - Every Racer Confirmed...Popular Right NowShow More Join 1,508,418 people following Nintendo Life:© 2025 Hookshot Media, partner of IGN Entertainment | Hosted by 44 Bytes | AdChoices | Do Not Sell My Personal Information Source: https://www.nintendolife.com/previews/hands-on-xenoblade-chronicles-x-definitive-edition-a-decade-on-miras-still-got-it