For ten years, Xenoblade Chronicles X has been the black sheep of Monolith Soft's stalwart RPG series. Its nameless protagonist, single-minded focus on hard military sci-fi, and cast of misfit soldiers stand in direct opposition to the epic fantasy and melodrama characteristic of its numbered peers.

On the surface, it couldn't look or feel more different, but playing X again now, a decade after its original release, I've been struck by how much it laid the groundwork for what would come next in the series. 💥

Far from being the odd one out, X has emerged as something of a proto-Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in many ways. Here you'll find Monolith Soft starting to experiment with customizable classes, incorporating new allies to strengthen your ranks, and giving battles a renewed sense of scale and grandeur thanks to their imposing mech suits.

Ideas that would later be rekindled in Xeno 3’s Ouroboros transformations, its accompanying hero characters, and even broader class-based move sets. All of this makes for a more familiar and softer landing in this more rigid Xenoblade offshoot, especially now that it’s been freed from its Wii U prison with this new Definitive Edition. If you’ve never set foot on the vast continents of Mira before, there’s never been a better time to do so! 🌍

Before I begin, I should say that while its seeming disconnect from the rest of the Xenoblade series should, in theory, make it a great entry point for newcomers, I'd still recommend starting with Shulk and company in the first Xenoblade Chronicles if you really want to see what all the fuss is about. For me, that game remains the heartbeat of Monolith's ever-expanding epic, and a much warmer introduction to its many systems and dynamics. X, by contrast, still has a slight air of stiffness to it.

Your (mostly) mute, customizable avatar is more of a passenger in this tale of warring alien races and impending human extinction, and you're expected to help explore and discover your new world, hex by hex, before you can move forward to the next main quest. It's a bit rigid in that sense, and it's a more list game than almost any other RPG in recent memory. So if you're looking for an adventure with endless exploration and a softer emotional core, there are better Xenoblades for that than X. 🗺️

Image credit: Nintendo

Despite its idiosyncrasies, X remains a fascinating experiment all these years later. Its themes of mass human displacement and the fight for your right to exist against forces bent on destroying every trace of human existence remain as intriguing today as they were a decade ago, and the ongoing mystery of why everything in the universe seems hell-bent on attacking you brings a sharper, more direct focus to its main plot.

It's certainly one of the most straightforward stories in the series, though your status as a relative unknown in this world and just another soldier in the army robs the narrative of some of the deeper, more personal stakes that drive your numbered comrades. Defending an entire military corporation from the threat of extinction doesn't quite have the same emotional impact than the revenge tragedy that occurs in Xenoblade 1, for example, nor the love and war rebellion of 3. 😔

But perhaps more than any other Xenoblade game, the heart of X truly lies in its many side quests. This is where the game’s cold, clinical facade gives way to the livelier, slightly more playful core that makes these games so endearing. In addition to the typical ‘bring me ten bird beaks’ quests, X adds multi-stage ‘normal’ quests that take you to the far corners of Mira’s alien landscape, as well as character affinity quests that are more closely tied to specific members of the group.

Together, they offer a more complete tour through the prism of the human experience, where deceitful schemes are forged and ruined, marriage proposals between different alien races are fostered and fought, racism and xenophobia are eradicated, and lost cats are saved from giant crabs, to name just a few. Some of them even make very charming references to films like Alien and Back to the Future. Sure, they're nothing particularly revelatory by today's standards, but as frames on which to hang your monster combat and resource gathering, they're very welcome conveniences. 🎉

Really, though, the world of Xenoblade Chronicles X remains its greatest draw, and even now, with dozens of photorealistic universes I've seen in their entirety, I still get a lump in my throat when I see X's enormous light whales soaring through the sky, its giant sci-fi dinosaurs drinking at waterholes, and its spectral squid cruising through bulbous spore gardens as the mists roll in.

There is nothing like go out into the fresh world made by Monolith for the first time, and Mira’s vast, five-continent expanse that accommodates your mech potential gives it an even more tempting allure as you begin to fathom its secrets. 🌌

There is a vastness in this place that requires real work and effort to understand it, and the pace at which X distributes its tools to help you unveil those layers seems perfectly synchronized with the evolution and growth of your sprawling base. In fact, considering the sheer amount of terrain we have here, I'm continually impressed by how satisfying and amazing it is to explore Mira both on foot and, eventually, by air with your mechs, even at as you reach the later chapters of the game.

There’s always something more to see, another corner to discover that will surprise and delight you, and you’ll stumble across them either through its side quests, or simply by following your intuition thanks to a masterful display of world-building that shares the same sense of mystery and striking contours as Breath of the Wild (which Monolith Soft would also help design and shape alongside the minds at Nintendo). 🦖

Image credit: Nintendo

Of course, as you'd expect from a Definitive Edition, it's an adventure that's had a few tweaks along the way. While most of the extra content included in this edition is something you probably won't notice at all, aside from its revamped character models (for the main cast at least, RIP to its noticeably more simplistic NPC crew), there are a handful of new recruitable members and mech models to play with here, all the original DLC included as standard (which was already in the 2015 Western release), plus a more useful little 'Follow Ball' artifact that helps track mission-critical items now, rather than simply leading to your next goal.

There's also a new bonus story segment to play after the end credits roll for narrative aficionados. It's all very enjoyable in its own right, but nothing that fundamentally changes your broader appreciation of the game as it stands. 🎮

What you will notice, however, are the improvements Monolith Soft has made to X’s core battle system, which I’m not so sure are necessarily for the better. As in other Xenoblades, all battles play out in real time, with characters automatically attacking as you maneuver them into position to unleash their powerful Artes attacks. Many Artes, which have their respective “cooldown” periods to consider, will be more effective depending on whether you’re attacking from the front, side, or behind a monster, while others can be lined up for satisfying combos that can stun and knock back enemies for more damage.

You only control one character in X, but the thrill of any Xenoblade battle lies in coordinating your Arts to perfectly align with those of your AI-controlled teammates, observing the flow of combat, responding to your friends’ calls and battle cries, and working together to launch an all-out assault that leads to a swift and (relatively) painless victory. 🏆

Image credit: Nintendo

Where X deviates from his numbered companions is in his more direct call-and-response system. In addition to keeping an eye on whether your companions are stunning or knocking down enemies, you also need to be on the lookout for specific follow-up commands.

Your team leader Elma can call in a full-on melee attack if you target and break a monster's appendage, for example, while Lin, the support tank, can call in ranged covering fire if you catch an enemy off guard early on. There are dozens of such triggers for these moments, and if you respond quickly with a corresponding colored Arte (all are color-coded for easy identification), you'll not only benefit from a small boost to group healing, but also deal extra damage in the process. 💣

I loved this dance of strategic Arts deployment in the original X. Battles had a dynamic beyond simply placing your character in the right place at the right time, fostering a real sense of synchronized teamwork between your party members. Managing the cooldowns on your Arts, and having a good variety of skills to respond to first, was part of the fun, making each encounter feel like a well-oiled killing machine.

In this new Definitive Edition, however, there's a new cooldown bar that lets you reactivate your Artes instantly at any time, effectively eliminating the need to be even vaguely tactical about when or where to let them fly. It also regenerates instantly at the start of each fight, so there's no need to be stingy with it unless you're in a big aggro-generated mess or a relatively long boss battle.

In fact, if you're facing a single enemy, you're never in a fight long enough for it to fully drain, allowing you to completely ignore your cooldowns. It's a change that fundamentally alters the flow of battle, allowing for easy attack spamming and a subtle, but noticeable, decrease in the game's overall difficulty—though you can of course opt out if you're a purist, relying instead on good old-fashioned patience and calculated planning. ⚔️

The thing is, while I regretted this addition at first, I'd also be lying if I said it wasn't a lot more enjoyable at the same time. It feels good to be so fully engaged with what is happening on screen, and if I may be generous, I'd say it's more like the Cancel Arts techniques from Xenoblade 2 and 3 rather than pure cheating.

Your experience may vary, but when I finally got to my first mech battles and discovered they didn't benefit from the new cooldown bar, that waiting period suddenly seemed like an eternity. That's when I realized how much more fun I was having with this new system, even though I was fully aware that all bite had been removed in the process.

Image credit: Nintendo

While we're on the subject of mech battles, they occasionally feel extremely overpowered and can turn some side and even main missions into an absolute walkover. You can see a gradual progression in the types of enemies you face in some of these missions—flocks of human-sized adversaries will eventually start showing up with their own mechs to complicate matters—but it's not until the final stages that you'll truly feel the pressure of that extra challenge.

Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing once you get your mech; the bigger the impact you have on this world, the bigger the enemies waiting to bite you. Xenoblade has always done an amazing job of mixing level 85+ brutes with level 6 brutes into its environments, and X is no different, making any sort of journey risky once you stray from the confines of its main story. Not every monster will immediately rush you, but the underlying threat that some will is just enough to maintain that much-needed tension in your enjoyment of progressing through X.

Ultimately, for all its changes and continued blemishes, I've had a much better time with X on this second go-round than I did during my Wii U days. It still suffers from some of the same issues it had back then. For starters, as large and varied as its main cast is compared to other Xenoblades, they all still suffer from that same Octopath Traveler third item syndrome when it comes to key cutscenes and story moments.

While some quests have party restrictions to help mitigate this issue, there are still plenty of moments where scenes with a group of characters instantly cut to show who's actually joining me in my party. Or they'll be standing awkwardly off to the side, mute and unresponsive. It can't help but feel a little jarring in the moment, though I haven't seen any RPG solve this problem effectively either. 🤷‍♂️

There's also still a staggering number of menus, skill points, and currencies to manage while you familiarize yourself with all its underlying systems. From mining Miranium and upgrading all the different weapon manufacturers to crafting augmentations and upgrades, and sorting through all sorts of mech accessories, there's a lot to absorb.

Thankfully, its reworked tooltip menus are a lifesaver this time around, and the web of class masteries and gear feels a smidgen more manageable now that it’s been through an even more convoluted iteration in Xenoblade 3. It’s still not as seamless as it could be, but series veterans will surely breathe a sigh of relief at its relative simplicity. 🌟

Ultimately, much like the many alien races you’ll encounter on the streets of your transplanted Los Angeles base, it’s the diversity of ideas and designs presented here that allows Xenoblade Chronicles X to stand the test of time. It’s worth revisiting if it’s been a while since you dipped your toes into the Wii U original, and definitely recommended if you missed it altogether and loved the others. It’s still a strange, stand-offish kind of Xenoblade game, and one whose addition is unlikely to disrupt any pre-existing list of your personal favorites.

But it's precisely that sense of contrast that makes it so fascinating to return to in 2025, especially now that we've seen where the roots of many of its fundamental systems have gone. It will be interesting to see if this Renaissance generates additional excavations in the recesses of X, because if this Definitive Edition has proven anything, it's that X remains a rich and captivating vein of the Xenoblade Chronicles timeline, and deserves to stand shoulder to shoulder with its numbered brethren.

A was provided copy of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for evaluation by publisher Nintendo.