By Adam Roffel
When Xenoblade Chronicles 2 first launched on the Nintendo Switch, it came with some mixed reactions. Critics and fans loved the story – myself included – but that game was pushing the Nintendo Switch to its limits, and it definitely showed.
The game was plagued by poor image quality, frame rate drops, pop-in, and more. For as good as the story was, the actual experience of playing the game was mediocre at best, and turned what may have been the best game in the franchise into one of the worst. At least from a technical standpoint, that is.
With the Switch 2, things have changed, but is it enough to warrant upgrading?
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a massive, open-world adventure game where you take control of Rex and his band of friends as they unravel the mysteries of Alrest, find the paradise called Elysium, and attempt to save the Aegis. The game uses open-world exploration and deep combat to create a memorable, lengthy experience for fans of JRPG games.
To start things off, Nintendo and Monolith are not asking a lot to upgrade your copy of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to the Nintendo Switch 2 version. For only 9.99 USD (14.99 CAD) you get all the promised updates, which are both visual, performance related, and some new content.
Monolith has promised that when docked, you should enjoy 4K graphics at 60 frames per second. In handheld, we should expect 1080p and 60 frames. As highlighted by Digital Foundry, they mostly deliver on this, and other promises, with only a few drops here overall.
Even without all the technology required to measure graphics and frame rates, the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 definitely passes the eye test. The game looks much crisper and a whole lot less blurry. Character models have a lot more detail, as do the worlds you’ll be running through, down to blades of grass and flowers. They are much more defined now, which adds to the enjoyment of exploring this massive and diverse world.
You’ll be exploring this world a lot faster, too. Load times have seen a massive improvement over the original Nintendo Switch version of the game, and this includes both loading into the game for the first time, and moving between fast travel locations. What was previously a lengthy wait that made fast travel a lot less fast than you want, is now pretty smooth, getting you from A to B much quicker, keeping you engaged with the world and the story.
One of the key features of Xenobalde Chronicles 2 is the use of your blades. You will always control a specific character – Rex, Nia, etc. – and activate your blades to perform a variety of attacks using the face buttons on the controller. You never actually get to fight as blades, though, at least until now.
During Chapter 3, you will be introduced to a new character named Vandham, who is the leader of a mercenary group. After completing the chapter, you’ll take control of the group, which will allow you to send unattached blades out into the world to complete missions for you. These missions reward your blades with experience, and you with money and resources.
These all happen behind the scenes. You simply set the missions up in a menu and send them out. Monolith has now added the ability to actually perform these missions yourself with the new Merc Assault feature. Here you pick a blade you want to fight as, and for the first time, get to run around with blades instead of main characters.
I found this a fun new addition to the game that allowed me to try something just a bit different. Each Merc Assault mission was ultimately just a battle against a wave of enemies, but it was a great way to test my combat skills, while earning rewards for myself and my blades in the process.
This isn’t a game mode I plan to play often – Xenoblade Chronicles 2 has more than enough content to keep you busy – but it’s a nice change of pace when the game’s story drags a little.
Ultimately, your decision to pick this version up probably depends on how much free time you have. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a game that will take over 60 hours just to finish the main story, and if you’ve already played it once, are you likely to play it again?
For new players, this is the best Xenoblade Chronicles story in my opinion, and the package takes a lackluster-performing game and makes it very playable.
If you love JRPG games, you would be doing yourself a disservice by not giving this a go.
Adam has been writing about video games since 2014 and board games since 2018. If he's not rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto FC, he definitely has a controller in his hand - probably playing on a Nintendo platform - or is sitting at a table playing a board game. Adam also has firm opinions on a few key topics: there are much better board games than Settlers of Catan, and Nintendo doesn't need to compete with Sony and Microsoft.
