What this game lacks with the Xeno series traditionally amazing narrative, has been made up for in SPADES with possibly the best open world exploration and world design I have ever seen. Every single continent in this game was a treat to explore, giant mechs to explore them with was amazing, and a much farther lean into the MMO style gameplay the Xenoblade has was incredibly fun, if not a bit under explained.

This truly is how it feels to be stuck on a whole different planet, and you should absolutely play this when it gets ported to the Switch.

This is incredible. The biggest issue with this game is it's stuck on a system not many people have. It has a lot of flaws for sure, the story is weak with bland characters, it has tons of dull grinding with annoying monster types. But none of that is enough to detract from one of the best open world experiences. This is one of the rare games where you have total freedom to explore the vertical and horizontal space on the map: Not only is everything on the surface explorable, but the entire skybox, thanks to your flying Skell, has enemies, locations and secrets to find. The soundtrack seems weird at first, but you'll grow to love it. It is so out there and unique. This also has wonderful side-quests with interesting stories and Branching Paths! Way more than any of the other games. Gameplay is layered and engaging thanks to on the ground combat mixed with the Skell flying combat.

Just so much to love with this one. If it gets onto Switch, day 1 buy. This is leagues better than 2.

1. Awful as it is, I doubt I could have finished without the shutdown deadline. Xenoblade X took me 180 hours over two years - 30 with COVID in 2022, and 150 to get ahead of the shutdown in 2024. Maybe it was a good thing!!

2. I got really stuck in Chapter 10. I felt I had intuited combat, so I looked online for some advice. I realised I had absolutely no idea how the self-healing mechanic worked. It's easy to be annoyed when you have a moment like that, but I like it.
I don't understand why I win encounters, because the game doesn't want to tell me that. What I do understand is what to do to win, which is what the game actually taught me. Because I never managed to kill Xenoblade X, it feels more alive. Fights could always go either way, so I try my best to survive with the tools I have. I think that feeling is perfect for this game. I definitely think it's why I kept feeling tense in fights for 180 hours.

3. I was disappointed that after your mech starts flying about 120 hours in, the area themes all get replaced by a jaunty Sawano track. But I realise now that the Skell flying theme was actually a valiant, self-sacrificing hero, protecting the area themes from being zoned out by the player after 180 hours. Thank you, Monolith. Thank you, Sawano.

4. It's fascinating how good the side missions & affinity missions are. Xenoblade X's narrative is about a merc exploring a whole different planet, taking on the wildest sicko-inclined jobs, and spending time with their cool friends while nasty things happen to them. Xenoblade X is not about the main story, which is about 5% of the runtime. The moment you realise and appreciate that, you recognise how great it is to be engaging in X-Files nightmares through the cockpit of your giant mech.

5. Worth noting you only enter that cockpit after spending 60 hours on the ground earning your license. This is the true face of pinnacle.

I loved this game so much. I'd honestly never heard of it, until considering buying a Wii U a few months ago. Spotted this out in the city, picked it up and tried it out.

Xenoblade X is such a beautiful game. From the enemies, the characters and their personality to the world you're set to explore, I loved every second of it.

I didn't do much beyond the main story, but I do hope to go back. Now, with the Wii U online services shut down, there will be quite some experiences you're missing; but know that I had no idea how to set up online and loved this game all the same.

If you can find it, I wholeheartedly recommend this game.

When I picked up the X games and saw Zero, I thought "man, he's cool af". Then, I picked up the Zero games and thought "yep, he is still cool af". But it is when I played this game that I truly realized: he's simply Him bros.

It was one thing for the story and stages to be the best these games had to offer so far, but it even went the extra step of basically making the combat 2D Devil May Cry. It is entirely possible to play this game however you want, either casually or testing your skills with all the crazy stuff you can do with the combo system.

I guess some of the bosses weren't that interesting to tackle, but otherwise, this is a truly phenomenal game.