After three full playthroughs of Xenoblade Chronicles, a game that wowed me on the Nintendo Wii, kept me occupied on the New Nintendo 3DS and then got its hooks into me once again on the last-generation Switch, I thought it was time for me to put down the Monado. Cue the surprise release of Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition – Switch 2 Edition (seriously, these titles), and I’m back in – at least for a brief visit.
It’s not a full victory lap, I simply don’t have the time or energy for another 70-80 hours of it, but thankfully the benefits of this new paid Switch 2 upgrade for the game are easy enough to quantify by returning to a mid-game save file.
There are two, maybe three crucial changes in this updated version of Xenoblade Chronicles for Nintendo’s new generation hardware. The first is, as expected, an uplift in fidelity and performance afforded by the added power of the Switch 2. Unfortunately, like Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition before it, the attempt made here is a little shaky.
The positive news is that this one doesn’t suffer from quite as much of the softness and weird artifacting as Chronicles X did on the Switch 2 – though it is still overall a bit softer than the 4K docked/1080p handheld output would imply. All told it’s a definite improvement over the Switch 1 version, making this the best way to play a game that still boasts some of the most beautiful landscapes and striking art direction in its class.
The more unfortunate wrinkle is that, even with all the extra grunt of the Switch 2 and the soft-ish presentation, this new version of Xenoblade Chronicles betrays its 60FPS framerate target with some frustrating stuttering. I can’t confirm that the entire game is affected, but in every area I checked out there were noticeable lurches as the camera pans. Without the required instruments to test things it’s hard to say whether these are actual frames being dropped or a weird frame-time thing but in any case it’s distracting.
A lot of UI elements, like dialogue boxes, also seemingly operate at their original framerates, which is a quirky that feels somewhat more forgivable in nature but is still noticeable. It’s hard to be too critical of some of this stuff, given we’re dealing with a Switch 2 upgrade bolted on top of a Switch game bolted on top of a Wii game, especially when those two were not necessarily made for a 60FPS presentation.
Putting aside those small complaints, it really is great to be back in this world, which is as enormous as it is full of wonder, and with the Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles there’s an even better way to traverse these massive environments. Enter, the Ether Jet. After completing a mercifully-brief side quest that appears after a relatively early point in the game, your party is given the license to ride these hoverbike-esque vehicles just about anywhere in the world you’d like – interiors included. This is something of a game-changing addition, drastically cutting down on walking time and even auto-collecting any shiny item points you drive across, and should be a massive boon to anyone looking at the hours required for a replay.
That’s not all there is to the Ether Jets, though. They also give you access to the Nopon GP, an entirely new racing minigame that sees you roar around key world locations in either Score Attack or Battle Race events. In both flavours, you’re essentially trying to navigate tricky tracks and pass checkpoints while picking up crystals that offer a burst of speed when collected in colour sequence. It’s a fun little mode, not entirely important to anything aside from the spoils of new cosmetics and Noponstones, but a neat addition nonetheless and quickly accessible from the menu at (nearly) any point in the game after unlocking it.
The other big update in the Switch 2 version of Xenoblade Chronicles is a move to fully-voiced Heart-to-Heart segments, which might not seem like the biggest or most transformative of all the new stuff here, but is quite impressive all things considered. It definitely seems as though (to my ears) the whole, original cast has been brought back in to record these, along with the Ether Jet quest bits. Not bad for a 15-year-old game!
All told, there’s a decent amount of value here for a $20 upgrade, or for anyone jumping in for the first time at full whack. The Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles might not have fully bucked the trend where performance is concerned, but it’s still the best this particular entry has looked and the added gameplay benefits and new content are a definite boon.
Reviewed on Nintendo Switch 2 | Review copy supplied by Nintendo
Great
- Still a fantastic RPG
- A heap of new voice work from the cast
- Ether Jets make traversal far less tedious
- Nopon GP is a fun distraction
- Original art holds up well enough in 4K
Not great
- Very distracting performance hitches
Born into the world of video games through SEGA, and in particular Sonic the Hedgehog, Kieron’s gaming tastes now consist of the latest, shiny AAA thing, an indie darling or two, and an embarrassing number of hours of Balatro.