PixlBit

Games of the Decade #8/Blog a Day #23

Hello everyone, how are you?

The Wii had no shortage of games, it had a ton of games and something for everyone. And yes the Wii also had a ton of shovelware titles as well. But among the really vast sea of shovelware were some really fantastic games as well as some really ambitious ones. For this next game, we will be taking a look at what is perhaps one of the best Wii games ever made and that game is Xenoblade Chronicles.

                                        The music in this game is simply beautiful ♥

Xenoblade Chronicles takes place on 2 titans known as the Bionis and the Mechonis, who were once locked in a battle eons ago but have been dormant since. Since then, multiple forms of life have made it their home on the frozen titans. The Bionis is home to multiple organic lifeforms whereas the Mechonis is home to mechanical lifeforms. In the game, the Homs, a human-like race of the Bionis are locked in what seems to be a never ending war against the Mechon, a machine-like race of the Mechonis. The only weapon capable of standing a chance against the Mechon is the Monado, a sword that is thought to have been wielded by the Bionis itself. Much of the game's plot revolves around the Monado itself. When his colony is attacked by the Mechon, Shulk (the main protagonist of the game) and his best friend Reyn set off to put a stop to it once and for all. There is another reason why they head off but that's a huge spoiler which I won't talk about.

At its core, XC is an open-world action rpg with many things to do and many places to explore. In the game you will be exploring segments of the Bionis and eventually the Mechonis. Each segment is massive with a lot to see and explore with its own theme. From grassy plains to jungles, swamps, caves, to even the sea which are all seamlessly connected. The game has a day and night cycle which chancges every 10 minutes in real time and the music also changes too. The different areas are also home to a number of different creatures/enemies and the enemies change between day and night, with night being the most dangerous as it brings out more powerful enemies that can kill you in one hit. You then begin to wonder how does all of this even exist on the Bionis itself. There are also towns as well were you can just relax while you aren't adveturing. n these towns you can interact with various npcs, take on quests, or shop for equipment.

Since this is an rpg, you are gonna be fighting throughout most of the game when you are out and about be it exploring or during a boss fight and whatnot. You can have a party of 3 characters at once each with their own arts for fighting. Arts involve buffing stats to healing to attacking and many more and you have to work together with your team in order to effectively defeat enemies. You have a gauge that fills up over time that allows you to execute a Chain Attack in which all the characters on your current party chain up multiple attacks for more damage. There is also a way to alert party members of incoming attacks that might be really dangerous as in an attack that will deplete all their HP but that is also a spoiler so will aoid talking about it too.

 

                                         The battle system is really easy to learn

The characters are definitely one of the best parts of the game. During your adventure you are joined by other characters from different races of the Bionis and each one has their own reasons for joining you but their goals are the same. Each character is unique and they all have their own weapon of choice during battles. In the game you can grow closer to the characters by raising their Affinity which in turn will unlock special dialogue and cutscenes known as Heart-to-Hearts. During Heart-to-Hearts you can learn more about a character like their personality or their thoughts and so forth. And yes you can use any character as the party lead should you choose.

"But Captain N, where can I play this game?" Well as of right now you have 3 options. If you have a Wii then you can get it there. If you have a New 3DS then you can buy it there too. Or if you have a Wii U you can either play the Wii version there or buy it digitally. Honestly, skip the N3DS version, the textures aren't as good as the Wii version. The game is also getting remade on the Switch known as Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition which is due to release this year which also happens to be its 10th aniversary as well so honestly just wait for that one if you have a Switch. If you can't wait then get the Wii version.

Final Thoughts: This game is simply fantastic in every way. The story had me hooked and I always wanted to see what happened next. Which in many cases involved level grinding to beat bosses that were obstacles in order to proceed the story. But the many twists it had were fantastic and never saw them coming. The gameplay is really fun and I loved how the world was structured which is really different from any game out there. Each location is really different and it's always neat to see what part of the map you are in and you are always in awe at how big each area is. You then begin to wonder how does all of this exist on the areas you are on. The music in this game is fantastic, each location have its own overworld theme too. It's such a treat to hear the music when it changes when it's day or night.

 

                                             The scope of this game is incredible

When you think of rpgs, you really don't think of the Wii and during that generation, Western RPGs took the spot that Japanese RPGs once had. People had thought JRPGs were dead but they most certainly weren't, they were still alive but people just didn't look in the right place. I kinda I could have put Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or Xenoblade Chronicles X in this slot since those games improved upon the gameplay of XC1 in every way, but I have to give it to this one. Without XC1 then the other games wouldn't exist but I love these games and are among some of the best rpgs I have ever played. Despite the improvements the other games have, I will always love the first game more, it was such a fantastic experience. You need to play this game.

One of the things I remember was that it was my birthday when this game released and I went to pick it up at Gamestop because it was a Gamestop exclusive game at the time. I got an artbook with my pre-order but they made a mistake and I got a free game as well. It was a game I had picked up a while ago that was on the same pre-order receipt but I suppose they never marked it that I picked it up so I got a free game. I gave the free game to my younger brother though. I did eventually put the game down and picked it up again and I remember in 2014 they annouced Shulk as a new fighter for the then new Super Smash Bros for Wii U/3DS and I smiled because I recognized all the references the character trailer had and it must of been a sign since I was playing right through XC at the time. Really well-timed if I say so myself.

                                                                     Perhaps

So that's it for this one and number 7 coming soon. I'll see you as soon as I'm done fighting a boss I ran into...