Review: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition

Coming into Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition with no Wii U history or nostalgic bias, I was genuinely curious.

This was one of those “hidden gems” passionate Nintendo fans in my Strictly Switch WhatsApp group had been hoping would make its way to the Switch for years.

But after spending a good chunk of time wandering the alien world of Mira, I’m still feeling a little disillusioned by the experience.

The premise is solid enough — Earth gets wrecked in an alien war, and the survivors crash-land on Mira, where they try to rebuild civilisation.

You’re a custom-made silent protagonist (with extremely limited customisation options, especially after playing WWE 2K25) working with BLADE, a group doing everything from gathering resources to fighting hostile wildlife.

The narrative takes a bit of time to get going, and because your character doesn’t speak, most of the emotional weight comes from the supporting cast. Some of them are interesting, but not quite strong enough to carry the whole thing (unlike Tears of the Kingdom where Link is silent but a lot of the non-playable characters ooze charisma)

Exploration is the big draw, and Mira is undeniably large and varied. But for a game built around discovery, I rarely felt compelled to go off the beaten path.

The environments are wide and tall, but there’s an odd emptiness to them — less “breathless wonder” and more “well, I guess I’ll keep going because the map says so.”

Setting up probes and unlocking fast travel points adds structure, but the thrill of the unknown didn’t capture me like recent games such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows.

Combat didn’t fare much better. The system blends cooldown-based abilities with positioning bonuses and class-based progression. It works but also feels very much like a product of its time.

The new Quick Cooldown mechanic adds a bit of strategy, but the pacing of fights feel sluggish, especially in the early hours. When the Skells (your mech suits) finally unlock, they do bring some excitement, but not enough to elevate the experience.

I did appreciate them for traversal as well as how they changed the way some of the fauna reacted around you. There were some creatures who ignored me while on foot and became aggressive while I was in my mech which was a good touch.

Visually, it’s a mixed bag. The art direction does a lot of heavy lifting, but textures and performance on the Switch feel like they’re pushing the hardware a bit too far.

Controls and menus aren’t particularly intuitive either. Not broken, but not streamlined for a modern audience. I found endless clipping issues throughout the game as I walked in and out of things all the time which really broke the immersion.