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Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Editionis worthy of its subtitle. The game looks cooler, feels better to control, and has plentiful quality-of-life improvements. It’s also got some bigger, meatier, fare that is sure to have a mighty impact on returning players while lending a more, well, definitive vibe to it all for vets and newcomers alike.
But what’s under the hood with this re-release? What makes the Definitive Edition worth the asking price, and why should you bother scooping it up on Switch if you’ve already surveyed Mira for BLADE on the Wii U? That, of course, is where this list comes in.
9New Story Content
Let’s get the mammoth out of the way first, shall we? Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition featuresbrand-new story content. This is especially poignant stuff, becausethe original title ended rather inconclusively.
Clearly, there were ideas for following up on the surprise final scene in X’s Wii U version, butneither Xenoblade Chronicles 2 nor 3 addressed the loose threads.
The post-game chaptercloses out Xenoblade Chronicles X’s narrative, which is something that fans have waited nearly a decade to see happen. And it’s all facilitated by…
8A Brand-New Region
Perhaps we were hasty in calling the new story a mammoth. It all happens courtesy ofa new region to explore, and much like Xenoblade Chronicles X’s other regions,it’s vast, offeringa fair number of hours' worth of gameplay.
The original Xenoblade Chronicles X featuredPrimordia, Noctilum, Oblivia, Sylvalum,andCauldros. New to Definitive Edition isVolitaris,a stunningly beautiful floating continent.
7New Characters
We mentioned more characters already, but this really deserves its own section. After all,Definitive Edition has multiple new party membersas a result. X already boasted a large playable cast -sixteento be precise - but it’s now shot up totwenty.
The new party members are all pretty rad in their own right, and they slot into the existing story just fine. If you’re a new to the world of Mira, you might not even realize they’re fresh adds.
There are two newSkellsas well. Skells, in case you’re new to the neighborhood, are thepilotable mechain this game. You can’t actually hop into their cockpits until a ways into the story, but you’ll havea couple more to choose betweenbefore the end thanks to Definitive Edition.
6Easy-Peasy Affinity
In Xenoblade Chronicles X, one of your side goals is toearn Affinity Points toward important allies and side characters. The game sports quite a fewAffinity Quests, and many of the later onesrequire set Affinity Levels for specific characters.
The thing is,getting Affinity Level up could be quite a grindin the Wii U version. The system hasn’t been removed (which would be a bit silly, really), but ithasbeen improved through a simple, welcome, tweak:Affinity Points are earned at a more rapid rate now.
5BLADE Levels Begone
Veterans of Xenoblade Chronicles X will no doubt rememberBLADE Levelsand the relatedField Skill Levels. Ranking up with these wasmandatory in order to access many of the game’s treasuresand more. It was a whole thing.
In Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, that whole thing is gone.BLADE Levelshave been removed, and while Field Skills remain, and require unlockingthey no longer involve their own leveling system. It’s a marked decrease in tedium across the board.
4Quick Cooldown
Here’s abattle mechanic that did not existpreviously. Behold,Quick Cooldown. By pressing the’Y' buttonoverArts that are still on cooldown, you’re able to, in fact, bypass that cooldown entirely.
If that sounds game-breaking, don’t worry - it isn’t.The Quick Cooldown bar has very limited charges, so you can’t just rely upon it as a rule throughout lengthier encounters.
Instead, you shoulduse Quick Cooldown to blast through easy fightsin less time, or forpivotal moments in larger battles.
3Time Is On Your Side
The Xenoblade series has several staples, includinga day/night system. In X, if you wanted to reach a specific time of day to fulfill a quest condition, spawn a monster, or what-have-you,you needed to either pass the time naturally or locate a rest spotand adjust it there.
Now, it’s simply a matter of accessing themain menu, where you can manually alter the time at any point.We honestly prefer to keep things more immersive with the original approach, but we’d be lying if we claimed we haven’t made use of this at all.
If you’re keen on this, be sure to seize the advantage when on quests which requirewaiting around for characters to show up in specific locationsbyswitching the time to suit your needs. In the long run, this technique can save you literal hours from your final clock time in a game that is, suffice it to say, quite lengthy to 100 percent.
2Survey Rate, Shared EXP, And More
The big tweaks don’t end there.Every five percent of each region that you survey nets you rewards, whereas prior to Definitive Edition, Survey Rate had very little tangible incentive. Beyond pushing through the main story’s prerequisites, completing regional surveys was merely a point of pride.
And remember how we mentioned that sixteen party members has been ramped up to twenty? Well, that’s a lot of characters to level up individually when you may only have four people in your active party.Experience points are now gained party-wide, saving us some real headaches.
Speaking of party-swapping,you can now change your active party almost anywhere. Before,you needed to head to each character’s specific hangout spot within New Los Angeles, which couldreallyslow things down. In some cases, it could downright disincentivize us from experimenting with more characters.
You canrespec Battle Points,more easily locate mission objectives and collectibles, there’sautosave functionality, theUIis clearer, and, of course…
1Gorgeous Graphics And A Steady Frame Rate
Porting a Wii U game to Switch without at leastsomevisual upgrades would have been odd, and thankfully, Monolith Soft spared no expense here.Xenoblade Chronicles X looks crisper and more detailed, and by and large,the cast looks more distinct, more expressive,and downright better.
Performance could be a hassle on the Wii U, too, leading to significant frame drops in busier areas. For the most part,Definitive Edition runs at a steady 30 frames per second. Sure, it’s not exactly 60, but it’s smooth, and as far as we’re concerned, that’s what matters most.
