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Xenoblade Chronicles X came up at a weird time in my life. I played it. I beat it. However, I didn’t get to do absolutely everything in the game due to an eye injury that kept me from spending a ton of time staring at a screen. Two weeks after I recovered, I needed to catch up to work and never got a chance to get back to it. In my first hours returning to Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition on the Switch, I really get to appreciate getting back to the game and experiencing life on Mira again.

As this is a Definitive Edition of an existing game, the introduction is as straightforward as always. Fleeing an alien threat, humans evacuated Earth on ships intended to help them find new homes in the galaxy. The White Whale crash lands on the planet Mira, and a BLADE member known as Elma finds the player’s pod a few months after everyone else started to get settled. What follows is finding a place for yourself in this new world, assisting other survivors/settlers, growing as a person, and hopefully finding answers to some of the mysteries that popped up around you.

Now, the early hours of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition on the Switch are identical to the Wii U version, in that they’re mainly preparing you for life on Mira. You’re restricted in these early chapters, in some ways. The path between Elma finding your White Whale pod and getting to New Los Angeles is relatively straightforward during the introduction, as an example. Even so, it’s possible to experiment and push limits in a way that isn’t present in most game tutorials. You choose how to get to the city, after a certain point, which can immediately put you in harm’s way. If you spend enough time goofing around and exploring in this area (guilty as charged), you can max out the starting Drifter class and already be heading down the Assault, Commano, or Enforcer track before you even get to the barracks and commit to BLADE hip.

What I appreciated, now that I went through early chapters again, is how much freedom Monolith Soft gave us when heading out into this new world. You aren’t forced back onto course if you step off the path for a bit to collect materials or see if you are strong enough to challenge some monsters. While there will be an introduction to ing Divisions, it isn’t hammered over your head and you get to explore what being a Curator or Reclaimer is like via doing after making your decision. You can take on a number of sidequests and even start seeing Heart-to-Heart events with allies. I get the distinct impression it respects my time and intelligence when I started going through it again. 

However, I will say that now that I’m wading back in to Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, I feel a bit like I appreciate the “mainline” entries’ combat systems a bit more. To be fair, this is also quite good. It similarly pulls from MMOs, in that your avatar automatically attacks and you select specific skills when cooldowns allow. Your allies will shout out and highlight when certain moves would be advantageous to use. This is still incredibly fun and cohesive, and the ability to “react,” with Soul Voice responses involving boons like HP restoration. It still feels really fresh and unique in a way some other JRPGs don’t. I do appreciate the third entry's combat most, but we can still see the growth of various systems even in this earlier installment.

It’s a delight to return to Xenoblade Chronicles X with the Definitive Edition and be reminded of how strong of a start Monolith Soft offers.. We’re introduced to this open world and loosely guided through it. We’re able to start going off the “safe” path right away, exploring our options and building ourselves up. There are also mysteries presenting themselves right away, tempting you to explore whenever possible, take on extra quests, and get to know Mira and its new residents better.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will come to the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2025, and the original game is on the Nintendo Wii U.

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European branches of Nintendo’s stores started taking Switch pre-orders for a Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition Epic Bundle. It costs £57.99 / €69.99 (~$73), depending on where you order it. There is also a promotional keyring included with purchases. So far, it hasn’t shown up in other regions like North America yet. 

Essentially, buying this collector's edition bundle gets you a physical copy of the Switch version of Xenoblade Chronicles X, as well as two guaranteed bonus items. One is a set of five holographic stickers featuring Skells from the game. The other is a desk mat that features Skell schematics on it. As a reminder, the Skells are the mechs we use to get around the game’s open world. 

As for the bonus item, it is a double-sided keychain. You see a Skell on one side, and on the other is a BLADE logo. This is 4cm long and is made of metal.

Here’s how everything looks. Note that while the keychain can come with the collector's edition, people who buy a standard physical copy from the official Nintendo stores in Europe can also get one while supplies last.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will come to the Nintendo Switch worldwide on March 20, 2025, and the Epic Edition is confirmed for Europe. The original game appeared on the Wii U.

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After the recent announcement of the Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, Nintendo and Monolith Soft shared several new screenshots of the game running on the updated graphics engine. As a reminder, the game will appear for the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2025.

The newly released screenshots showcase the planet of Mira and some of the flora and fauna that players will be able to find as they explore the various environments and ecosystems in the game. Additionally, the screenshots also briefly showcase the main characters Elma, Lin, and Tatsu.

The images were shared by the Japanese Xenoblade series X (formerly Twitter) official . Alongside them, the caption offers some data about the human-made city of New Los Angeles or NLA, and the Nopon. In the setting of Xenoblade Chronicles X, the Nopon are a friendly species native to the planet of Mira. More information about the game will continue to appear in the future.

You can check out the new Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition screenshots here:

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will come to the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2025. The original game released for the Wii U in 2015, and the online servers were discontinued on April 2024.

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Nintendo announced that Xenoblade Chronicles X, a former Wii U exclusive game in the series, will come to the Nintendo Switch in a Definitive Edition on March 20, 2025. This will be more than just a remaster, as the company confirmed there will be new content added to this version.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is an open-world game, with players crash landing on the planet Mira after escaping earth and helping protect and maintain New Los Angeles. Your custom character works alongside BLADE stepping into Skell mechs to explore the environment. The Switch version will feature improved visuals, retain online multiplayer that includes exclusive missions and Global Nemesis Battles, and add new story-related segments. 

There’s already a first trailer for Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, which shows both the existing story and gameplay elements and a tease for new elements at the 2 minute mark.

When Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition comes to the Switch, it means the every entry in the series will appear on the system. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 appeared on the platform exclusively. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition showed up there in May 2020.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition will come to the Nintendo Switch on March 20, 2024, and the original game is on the Wii U.

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Monolith Soft celebrates its 25th anniversary on October 1, 2024, and to mark the occasion the studio released a new commemorative video as well as a new website celebrating the studio’s long-standing history.

The video opens with the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 DLC Future Connected song “Future Awaits,” as all the titles that the studio has produced since it was established in October 1999 are showcased on screen. These include the Xenoblade Chronicles series, the Xenosaga trilogy, the Baten Kaitos duology, the Namco x Capcom and Project X Zone crossovers, as well as lesser-known titles like Soma Bringer and Disaster: Day of Crisis.

It then shows Xenoblade Chronicles 3 protagonists Noah and Mio standing on a grass hill playing the flute as the protagonist of other Monolith Soft titles them, including Rex, Pyra, and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Elma from Xenoblade Chronicles X, Shulk and Fiora from Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, and KOS-MOS from Xenosaga.

The video culminates with the Monolith Soft logo forming from the memories of all the games, and a Japanese sentence which translates to “Opening the future of gaming.” The sentence itself is a reference to the ending of Xenoblade Chronicles, where protagonist Shulk uses a similar line in Japanese.

You can check out the Monolith Soft 25th anniversary video here:

Additionally, the new Monolith Soft official anniversary website offers various phone wallpapers from all the aforementioned game series, as well as a message from Monolith Soft CEO Hirohide Sugiura. In it, Sugiura thanked fans for their continued over the years and expressed his belief that Monolith Soft is in its “genesis” phase, and there is a lot more that the of the studio want to accomplish in the future.

The post Monolith Soft Celebrates 25th Anniversary With New Video and Website appeared first on Siliconera.

The Wii U eShop is about to meet its end and shut down soon, just like the Nintendo 3DS eShop, with it closing on March 27, 2023 and cutting off access to buy games. This is something of a tricky situation for folks! Some notable games are honestly cheaper physically, such as Star Fox Zero and Guard. A lot of other “must-haves” went from exclusives to… not, like Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE and Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water. Still, there are some major and notable games worth getting and playing, and these are our recommendations.

The Heavy Hitter Exclusives x3w4u

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD 193i68

As you’d expect from an HD remaster, it looks better. Nintendo adjusted the lighting, it runs in 1080p, and features 30fps. However, it also involved the company making adjustments to fine-tune it. There’s a new control scheme, as you might expect from the GamePad. There are fewer Tears of Light to hunt down, you immediately get access to Hero Mode, you can use amiibo to get extra items or unlock the Cave of Shadows dungeon, and there are Miiverse stamps… oh. Oh right, Miiverse is dead.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD 3t2659

So, this is an HD remaster of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker! It’s as comprehensive and enjoyable as ever. In addition to being a 1080p version of the game with better lighting, there are also new UI elements involving the GamePad, the ability to use motion controls with the GamePad gyroscope, and gameplay adjustments like faster travel with the Swift Sail. It also featured Miiverse compatibility, but… that’s gone now.

Xenoblade Chronicles X 551v44

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a fantastic game that focuses a bit more on exploration than storytelling than Xenoblade Chronicles 1-3, though keep in mind there’s still an interesting tale and fascinating lore here. As part of an Earthlife Colonization Project, countries sent out ark spaceships to try and escape the war and find a new home. The American’s White Whale is shot down and crash lands on the planet Mira. Players are one of the humans who was in stasis on board and, upon being awoken, s Elma, Lin, and Gwin as BLADE in New Los Angeles trying to help recover after the crash, find more people and remnants, and deal with things to come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-al4wjwD9_s&ab_channel=NapNokGames

The Overlooked Wii U eShop Gems 6czj

Affordable Space Adventures 6q55v

Affordable Space Adventures is one of the rare examples of a Wii U eShop exclusive from a third-party that will be lost forever upon Nintendo closing things up. It is a puzzle game you go through alone or with friends as you attempt to get the Small Craft spaceship you took your “vacation” on off of a planet after being stranded. It’s especially good with other people!

Dr. Luigi 115o50

Nintendo named 2013 The Year of Luigi, and Dr. Luigi was one of the results of that! It’s Dr. Mario, only with L-shaped pills in some of its four modes. Though some of the other modes are identical to past games. It’s a Wii U eShop exclusive that will be gone forever after the storefront’s closing, so it’s something you may want to get for posterity.

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse 481v6h

Kirby and the Rainbow Curse, like Kirby: Canvas Curse before it, involves indirectly controlling Kirby. You draw lines, in this case on the GamePad, to get him through levels. You can get it physically, but if you’re having trouble finding a disc and want a fun platformer spin-off, this is worth grabbing. It can feel more like a puzzle game at times, what with being limited by available ink.

NES Remix and NES Remix 2 5x5d4s

NES Remix and NES Remix 2 are both fantastic, bite-sized minigame collections on the Wii U eShop featuring NES games. The first featured challenges from games like Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Super Mario Bros, and The Legend of Zelda. The sequel brought in even more games, like Dr. Mario, Kid Icarus, Kirby’s Adventure, Metroid, Punch-Out, Super Mario Bros 3 and Zelda II. You can get them on a disc as the NES Remix Pack, but if you’re having trouble finding that or already own one and just want the other, grab them now!

Pokemon Rumble U 4r724z

Pokemon Rumble games? It’s been a while since Pokemon Rumble Rush in 2019, and that was a mobile game anyways, so you’re forgiven if you don’t! The Wii U entry was the amiibo game before amiibo even existed, as you would use NFC figures to play if you wanted. Rather than Pokemon, you fight with and against Toy Pokemon. It’s an action game, and up to four people can also face off. As in typical Pokemon games, you can befriend and find new allies by defeating them in battle. It’s not the best installment, but we shouldn’t forget this Wii U eShop exclusive before the store’s closing.

What do you think are the best Wii U eShop games? What other gems did we miss? Let us know in the comments.

The post Wii U eShop Games to Buy Before It’s Too Late appeared first on Siliconera.

It is a big day for Monolith Soft, as June 10, 2020 is the tenth anniversary of the Xenoblade Chronicles series. The original installment debuted on the Wii in Japan on June 10, 2010. To all attention to the day, the company has teamed up with Koichi “CHOCO” Mugitani for Xenoblade Chronicles art, which is available as a standalone image or as a wallpaper, that highlights every installment’s “main” character.

In the middle of this Xenoblade Chronicles art is Xenoblade Chronicles X’s Elma with her dual swords. On the left is Xenoblade Chronicles’ Shulk. Xenoblade Chronicles 2’s Rex is on the right. In the background, if you look closely, you can see other notable characters and figures, like Fiora, a Skell, Pyra, Mythra, Nia, and Dromarch.

Here are all three versions of the art, which were shared on the series’ Twitter and Monolith Soft’s website.

[gallery ids="839196,839197,839198"]

As for CHOCO, the artist has been known for doing concept sketches and character designs for Monolith Soft’s various Xeno series games. For example, there are the Xenosaga Emissions Concept Art Books. CHOCO also was responsible for the T-elos Re: Blade and Praxis Blade designs from Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

To celebrate the occasion, CHOCO released a picture of Melia.

ゼノブレイドDEではフィオルンの新装備と女子のキャラデ監修でお手伝いさせて戴きました。

もっとこうしたら可愛いんでない？(˘ω˘)ｼｬﾗﾗﾗﾗ~ .｡.:*゜

とやるお仕事です。

ほら男子キャラ諸君もｼｬ…

モノリスソフト「いや間に合ってますんで」

(˘ω˘)ｱｱ…#XenobladeDE#XenobladeChroniclesDE pic.twitter.com/pXKhXv12px

— CHOCOお父様 (@choco_mugi) June 10, 2020

Xenoblade Chronicles is available on the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Wii. Xenoblade Chronicles X is available on the Nintendo Wii U. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is available on the Nintendo Switch.

The post Xenoblade Chronicles Art and Wallpaper Released for the Series’ Anniversary appeared first on Siliconera.

As of February 2020, Xenoblade developer Monolith Soft has grown to 243 employees—its highest employee count ever. This comes amidst Monolith ramping up production on at least two projects that are in development simultaneously: a Legend of Zelda game and a new RPG.

Nintendo acquired Monolith Soft from Namco Bandai in 2007. Ever since, the company has grown into one of Nintendo's most prominent first-party development studios, and has assisted with the creation of a number of Nintendo games, in addition to its own popular Xenoblade series. Here's a look at how Monolith Soft has grown over the years.

A timeline of Monolith Soft's growth

2007: Monolith Soft is acquired by Nintendo. Soma Bringer is in development for the Nintendo DS using a more organized development structure compared to Xenosaga. Disaster: Day of Crisis is in development for the Wii. Xenoblade Chronicles is in pre-production at this point.

2010: Xenoblade is released on the Wii in Japan, and a year later in the West.

2011: Monolith Soft opens a second studio in Kyoto, closer to Nintendo. This studio is led by co-founder Yasuyuki Honne and goes on to develop art assets for a number of Nintendo games, including The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Animal Crossing.

2012: Referring to its next game, Monolith says it wants to be the Bethesda of Japan. (This is in reference to the scope and ambition of Xenoblade Chronicles X, which is revealed the following year.)

2013/2014: An "urgent" recruitment drive begins for Xenoblade Chronicles X. The studio ramps up to 120 employees.

2015: Xenoblade Chronicles X is released. A large portion of the X team goes on to work on environment design for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Meanwhile, development of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 requires a large number of external contract studios.

2017: Project X Zone director Soichiro Morizumi and co-producer Koji Ishitani leave the company. Later in the year, a recruitment drive begins for a new project that is described as being "different from Monolith Soft's brand image" and features concept art for a medieval fantasy project. Vacancies on the project make it sound like an action game.

2018: A recruitment drive begins for a new RPG developed by Monolith Soft's 1st Production department, the team behind Xenoblade. Series creator Tetsuya Takahashi says the game will continue in the vein of the Xenoblade series and that the company is also seeking a talented character designer that can be the face of its games. Meanwhile, it appears that longtime Xeno character designer, Kunihiko Tanaka, is no longer working with Monolith Soft.

2019: Monolith Soft opens a new studio in Osaki, Tokyo. Recruitment begins for a Legend of Zelda game (likely Breath of the Wild 2) developed by a "2nd Production" department at the company. The general consensus is that this project is the same one Monolith Soft was hiring for in 2017.

2020: Early in the year, the studio grows to 243 employees. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is scheduled for release this year. Monolith Soft's other projects have yet to be revealed.

--x--

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Xeno series director Tetsuya Takahashi of Monolith Soft previously mentioned that he’d like to bring the Wii U RPG Xenoblade Chronicles to Switch, and he shared more on that during a recent interview.

The post Monolith Soft Director Talks Possibilities Of Bringing Xenoblade Chronicles X To Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

All eyes are on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with its release tomorrow, but those of you wondering if Xenoblade Chronicles X will ever a Switch release, Monolith Soft president had a little to share on that.

The post Monolith Soft President Wants To Bring Xenoblade Chronicles X To Switch appeared first on Siliconera.

More concept art has surfaced from Xenoblade Chroncles X's art book which released in Japan last year.

The post Another Look At Concept Art From Xenoblade Chronicles X’s Art Book appeared first on Siliconera.

In one section of the book titled "Unidentified Material," we get a look at some concepts that ultimately did not make it into the final product.

The post Xenoblade Chronicles X Art Book Shows Off Concepts Unused In Final Game appeared first on Siliconera.

The model (1/48 scale) based on the game’s Formula Skell/Doll will be released in July in Japan and will cost 8,424 yen.

The post Kotobukiya Now Accepting Pre-Orders On Xenoblade Chronicles X Formula Skell Model appeared first on Siliconera.

Cassandra Lee Morris, the voice actress of Lin, recently posted a video in which she talks a bit about the auditioning process, as well as the controversy surrounding Lin's outfits.

The post Lin’s Voice Actress From Xenoblade Chronicles X Talks About The Game appeared first on Siliconera.

In the final episode of Nintendo's "Survival Guide" series, we learn all about forming squads and enlisting the help of other BLADE .

The post Latest Xenoblade Chronicles X Video Helps You Survive On Mira appeared first on Siliconera.