Xenoblade is an incredible game that will captivate you to the very end and will be remembered for years to come.
The game starts out with a view of a vast, endless sea. We are told, and shown, that two titans, the Bionis and Mechonis, were locked in a never ending battle until, one day, they each struck a killing blow on the other and became dormant. The Mechonis is home to machines known as the Mechon, and the Bionis is home to Homs, High Entia and Nopon, as well as all manner of creatures. Recently, the Mechon have been invading the Bionis and the Homs are doing their best to stop them. The numerous Colonies all over the Bionis have been defeated; all of them, except for Colony 9.
After a somewhat brief opening scene that shows an epic battle between Homs and Mechon, that also doubles as an introduction to the battle system, we are introduced to Shulk, a young man in his late teens/ early twenties. He is an engineer and research scientist for Colony 9. For a long time now, he has been trying to unlock the secrets of a mysterious sword called the Monado. Not much is known about it, aside from the fact that is can kill Mechon and it cripples most who use it, including the Hero at the Battle of Sword Valley (the battle from the beginning of the game) who formerly wielded it. Once a few cutscenes are out of the way, as well as an introduction of Shulk's long- time friend, Reyn, the player is given the freedom to roam around Colony 9.
The first thing that really got me was the size; Colony 9 is huge, especially for a Wii game. And this holds true for every area in the game. The areas are massive and filled with secrets. Places you never went to on the map could be secret areas, and hold monsters well worth fighting and valuables well worth taking. The game really encourages exploration in a way that a lot of other games don't. New areas hold more experience, skill and art points which can be used to further develop your party of heroes. (More on that in a bit.)
Of course, this is the Wii we're talking about. It isn't exactly the most powerful system on the market. The areas in the game are absolutely humungous and, as such, one might expect that the game runs poorly and looks bad. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The game manages to keep a constant framerate outside of a few battles against numerous enemies and has very little loading times. The only times you will see the loading screen is when you load the game, and fast travel to another map. Even then, the load times are hardly a bother, usually only taking a few seconds. When compared with similar games on other consoles that are similar in size, this is fairly surprising since those games typically have many more glitches and run poorly. It's a boon for the game that it runs so well. And, of course, it manages to look good while doing it. The environments in the game are lovely to look at and have a ton of variety. There is a lot of color throughout the world and it pays off in a big way. There is also a strong artistic component to make up for the sometimes lackluster technical side of things. The way everything is designed is remarkable and unique. The world, the technology at use, the weapons, the armor, the characters… everything is strong in the art department. The only real flaw with the graphics are with the character models. They lack detail, especially in the face. Additionally, you may encounter pop up every once in a while. However, these flaws are more than forgivable, considering how much game is packed onto the disk.
After wandering around Colony 9 for a while (it may take minutes or it may take hours depending on whether or not you like to do side quests and explore), you are eventually thrust into the main quest of the game. After a Mechon attack at Colony 9 that claims the life of Shulk's love interest Fiora, the game really begins. It starts out as a simple revenge story. Shulk and Reyn are furious at the Mechon for what they did. However, Shulk is feeling guilt. He was able to use the Monado, and, when he did, he saw a vision of Fiora being killed. He is also searching for a reason that he can use the Monado where others can't. As the story progresses, you gain more characters to aid you on your quest, and things become a lot more complicated. I won't spoil anything here, but I will say that you will be surprised at the twists that are thrown your way.
Something I feel I must comment on is the pacing of the game. It took me seventy five hours and fifteen minutes to beat this game. That's obviously a long time, especially for the standards of today's games. However, there was never a moment in the story that I felt was too drawn out. The game has a way of throwing a carrot in the player's direction that will make them want to push on and on. Whether it be some dialogue muttered by a character in the background or a vision that Shulk has, the game's story will grab you and is likely to affect your emotions. There are numerous scenes that are expertly crafted to hold your interest and toy with your feelings. The story is well worth seeing to though the end, in order to find out what happens to the excellent cast of characters and what happens with the gradually epic story. What starts out as a simple revenge story expands into something much, much greater. This level of writing is not seen very often in games.
Each area of the game brings a new sense of excitement. You never know what you're going to find in the new places that you visit. You can easily spend hours just walking around and fighting monsters. Of course, this would be more boring if the soundtrack wasn't so damn spectacular. Every area has its own track, and there isn't a bad one in the bunch. Whether it's the upbeat and catchy tunes of the Bionis's leg or the serene and beautiful melody of the Satorl Marsh during the nighttime, you are bound to fall in love with the way the game sounds. Music during cutscenes are also highly appropriate for the situation; sometimes it's a rocking guitar riff, other times it's an epic orchestral/ chorus arrangement, and, in a few cases, both. The music is a part of the reason the game is so unforgettable. There is nothing quite like walking around Satorl Marsh during the day. It seems like just another swamp level. Then, when night falls, the music becomes slow and serene, and the marsh transforms into a symphony of light and colors. There are moments like this peppered throughout the game.
While Xenoblade is a JRPG, it shares a lot in common with MMO's. Aside from the huge map sizes, the game has a highly addicting battle system. When you're out in the field and you see a monster, you can target it if you feel like a fight. After pressing a button that draws your characters' weapons, you begin battle. This is real time, not turn based like so many other JRPG's before it. For one, you only have control over whoever happens to be leading the party at the time. You have no control over when the character attacks. Instead, the characters automatically attack. This builds up the Talent Guage, which, depending on the character, does different things. For instance, for Shulk, you can activate the Monado, which allows you to use a special move that is usually a great help (i.e. shielding your party from monster Arts.) What are Arts? They are, essentially, special moves. You can have up to eight Arts available for use at any given time. Different ones do different things. For instance, one may do more damage when used from behind an enemy, and another may heal a party member part way. Unlike other JRPG's, where magic points are common, characters have no limit on how many times they can use an Art. Instead, each one has a Cooldown time. Essentially, you must wait a certain amount of time in battle before being able to sue it again. This, combined with the fact that your characters restore health automatically after battle, helps greatly with the pacing of the game. You don't need to worry about stocking up on supplies or healing items because your party members heal automatically. Finally, if a character is in danger, you will receive a vision of their death in battle. You have a set amount of time to change the future so that you can best your foes. Usually, you will use Shulk's Monado shield (which makes Art attacks 1) or use a powerful move by warning a teammate in a last ditch survival effort.
Of course, also like MMO's, monsters drop loot and equipment when defeated. This figures heavily into sidequests since you will often need to find a certain number of a certain item or defeat certain kinds of monsters. There is a ton of different items to find throughout the game, as well as equipment. Each character can equip the same armor as someone else (unless they don't have the Skill to equip it), but each piece alters the character's appearance, which is a neat touch.
Compelling you to explore and fight are Skills and Art points. After each battle, you receive some experience, Art points and Skill points. Art points are simple enough to use. You can level up Arts on characters to make them stronger and more effective in battle. Skill points, however, are automatically pooled into your Skill Tree. The skill Tree allows for passive abilities to be used. For instance, a certain Skill tree on a character may give them abilities such as increased health, or earning more experience. Each character starts off with three, but certain sidequests can be done that can give them more trees. You can also gain these points from discovering Locations and Landmarks.
You will eventually form a party of seven characters, but are only allowed to have three at a time in battle. Every character still gains EXP points as well as Skill and Art points. However, ones in battle earn more, and also gain an Affinity for each other. Affinity is how the characters feel towards one another. In addition to unlocking Heart to Hearts (which help further character development), Affinity can help greatly with Chain Attacks (after the party gauge is filled up, you can attack an enemy in sequence and if you're lucky you will attack using each character more than once) and Skill Links. Skill Links are just what they sound like. They allow characters to share skills with fellow party members. This really encourages experimentation, since you can highly customize your party despite the lack of, say, a Class system like in a Final Fantasy game.
Outside of all of that, there are optional Quests you can undergo by talking to NPC's. Quests are, typically, standard fetch quests or "kill x amount of this monster." However, the rewards promised by them, as well as the storylines, make them well worth taking. It can be frustrating when you're missing one of a certain kind of item, but the quests have an addictive quality to them. In addition, completing Quests upgrades your Affinity with whatever area you happen to be in. Increasing Affinity can allow you to gain access to increasingly more difficult and rewarding quests. If you undertake the huge task of completing all the quests you can, you are likely to increase your time with the game by a significant amount. I personally did a lot of quests, but nowhere near enough to reach maximum Affinity with each region. And, as I already said, the game took me over seventy hours to complete.
On top of all of that, you can help rebuild a colony. After a certain point in the story, you aid in the reconstruction of Colony 6, which fell under the power of the Mechon. You can pour resources into different parts of the colony, like the Economy or the Natural area around it. Additionally, performing Quests for citizens in Colony 6 can help in the reconstruction.
After beating the game, you can save over your file to replay it from the beginning with all of your equipment and leveling, as well as some of the items you had. I personally felt compelled to just play through it again the moment I started New Game+, if only to complete more tasks that I missed the first time through.
Final thoughts:
Xenoblade is an incredible game. It is a powerhouse for the system, sounds fantastic has an excellent story and a terrific sense of pacing, on top of great gameplay. If you own a Wii and are starving of a good RPG, look no further than Xenoblade. The story is bound to draw anyone who enjoys fantasy/ sci fi, and the heavy character customization, addicting quests, and superb battle system, as well as the wealth of option content, ensure that you are never likely to get bored with the game. This is an extremely rare game, one that comes around once and maybe twice every generation. Nintendo was wise to bring this game over to the states. Sure, you may notice some small flaws here and there like texture pop in or the annoying battle dialogue, but these are more than forgivable when the game is so well put together and lovingly made. This is one of the best, if not the best, console games from this generation of gaming. I can't encourage you enough to play it. Even if you are new to RPG's, there is an extensive Tutorial section that covers every feature of the game. And if you are a veteran of RPG's, particularly JRPGs, you will appreciate how many annoyances aren't present and how much it updates the genre.
So long and thanks for reading!