Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition Review – A Visual & Technical Marvel

As one of Nintendo’s flagship series, the Xenoblade Chronicles has seen a healthy number of new entries since its debut in 2010. What started as an ambitious Nintendo Wii title quickly grew into a multi-generational franchise, with games on every major Nintendo console. 

Xenoblade Chronicles X is a spin-off that shares its DNA with the main series but mostly exists in a vacuum when it comes to its role in the overall saga. As a 2015 Nintendo Wii U title, it experimented with the series’ gameplay by introducing online and mech customization elements, something that the rest of the games never attempted. After finally being ported to the Nintendo Switch in 2025, it has now also arrived on the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026. Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition takes everything that was already loved by the Wii U fandom and builds on it with new quality-of-life updates.

While the game itself hasn’t seen new content or improvements beyond the visual and technical upgrades, is it still worth playing on newer hardware? Has Monolith Soft done a good enough job to justify upgrading your Switch copy or buying a brand-new copy for the Switch 2 altogether?

TL;DR

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition is a gem in every sense of the word. It’s a competently crafted open-world JRPG that pushes the Switch 2’s hardware and lets Monolith Soft’s vision truly come to life. Just don’t expect a gripping narrative while you spend hundreds of hours unlocking new classes, quests, and upgrades.

Story – Basic is Overselling It

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition is the definition of basic storytelling. It takes place on the planet Mira, after humanity fled Earth, following an attack by a mysterious alien species. The Earth ship, the White Whale, lands on Mira, where humans rename it to New Los Angeles. It’s here that your non-descript character wakes up from a coma (as one does in a JRPG). You’ll briefly get to customize your character with a simple character builder before jumping into the game properly.

After meeting Elma, a warrior girl who explains the situation to you, you’re let loose on Mira to chart your own path. Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition doesn’t have the same level of grand storytelling as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 or its predecessors. It provides you with the context to start exploring its world and doesn’t bog you down with the details. 

The world itself is rich with NPCs who will fill you in on the information you need about the planet and its inhabitants if you choose to interact with them. If not, you won’t lose much, and you’ll still find the game enjoyable enough to sink dozens, if not hundreds, of hours into.

Gameplay – Single Player MMO in its Purest Form

The gameplay of Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition is best described as a single-player MMO. You’ll control a party of up to 4 characters, with your no-name hero being one of them. 

Each character comes with a unique backstory, class, equipment, and other details that make them worthwhile companions. However, your character can switch classes and swap between skillsets without any penalty, making Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition a truly unique game in the series. 

This means you can play a ranged sniper in one battle and quickly swap to a bulky tank in another. The game makes this even smoother by automatically switching your equipment when you change classes, encouraging you to experiment with your build.

Exploring Mira One Piece at a Time

The world of Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition is split into seamless zones. Creatures inhabiting the planet truly are dangerous from the start, meaning you’ll have to be careful about which fights you engage in. 

For example, a level 5 creature could have a level 20 escort who will attack you on sight. World bosses are also scattered around the planet and will appear under certain weather and time conditions. The game truly does feel like an MMO you can play every once in a while, do a few quests, and put it down again for a week. 

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition features a carefully fine-tuned gameplay loop that doesn’t punish you for playing for 30 minutes or for 4 hours, should you choose to. Lightning-fast loading times and practically zero penalty on death also make the game accessible and enjoyable for every type of player.

An Addicting Exploration System

The game’s open world is structured into zones similar to an MMO. This means each zone has a certain number of activities and goals you need to accomplish to raise its overall completion percentage. The higher the percentage, the more perks you unlock, such as passive bonuses or special items. 

Monolith Soft did a masterful job at making this process feel engaging and dopamine-inducing instead of tedious and time-consuming. You’re constantly unlocking something useful, and no zone really feels the same. 

The world also feels alive despite being alien, with creatures living their lives and NPCs going about their daily activities. While it doesn’t feature a full NPC lifecycle system, such as games like Skyrim do, it’s still an immersive and rich world that you’ll love simply exploring on your own time.

Building Your Own Mech

Xenoblade Chronicles X doesn’t shy away from making its world hostile and unwelcoming to humans. Mira is an alien planet, and you need to be prepared for all its dangers. What better way to do that than by building your own mech with the help of your companions? Xenoblade X draws heavy inspiration from properties like Mobile Suit Gundam and even Neon Genesis Evangelion, and treats its mechs as an extension of its characters. 

You’ll gather various parts and fine-tune your mech for combat in different environments throughout the game. In combat, your mech acts just like your character but features its own skills. It’s an additional gameplay layer that unlocks several hours into the game, and you’ll want to make sure you spend enough time and resources on upgrading your mech.

Visuals – Gorgeous Open World at 60 FPS

Xenoblade Chronicles X was an experimental game that Monolith Soft built in preparation for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It uses an in-house engine built with open-world design in mind. As such, we can’t compare it to traditional engines used in the industry, such as the Unreal Engine 5 or EA’s Frostbite Engine. 

What we can say, however, is that it takes full advantage of the Switch 2’s improved hardware specs. Comparing it to the Wii U original, or even the Switch 1 version from last year, is a night-and-day difference. And since we got so used to seeing Nintendo’s first-party games running at 30 FPS, seeing Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition shine bright is a joy. 

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition runs at a stable 60 FPS and takes literal seconds to load from the Switch 2’s home menu into live gameplay. True to its title, this is the definitive way to play Xenoblade X, and we can only hope the rest of the series follows suit. 

The beautiful, open world shines at 4K in docked mode, with the handheld resolution holding steady at 1080p. If you never played Xenoblade X and were waiting for a great JRPG to grace your Switch 2, this is the game you’re looking for.

Audio – A Signature Xenoblade Soundtrack

The soundtrack is one of the series’s signature elements that make it so special. Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition is no different, with an orchestral score by Hiroyuki Sawano giving the world of Mira a distinct, epic feel. Whether you’re exploring vast open plains, piloting a mech, or diving into dungeons, Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition makes you feel like a part of its world. 

More than that, the soundtrack avoids repetition even after dozens of hours into the game. With this game, the series also introduces synth musical elements to complement its more mecha nature. However, in terms of overall audio design, the game does feel like an MMO as well, with minimal sound effects that can get repetitive. 

By default, audio mixing also isn’t perfect, with the music dominating over voice lines, and you’ll have a tough time making out what the characters are saying without tinkering with the settings. It’s a minor blemish on an otherwise stellar audio experience that’ll have you coming back to the soundtrack even weeks and months after you’ve beaten the game.

Should You Play Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition on the Switch 2?

Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition on the Switch 2 doesn’t feature any new content compared to last year’s release. However, it takes full advantage of upgraded hardware and brings a 4K 60 FPS experience into the palm of your hands. 

Whether that’s worth the price of upgrading your Switch 1 copy or buying Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition again if you already played it will be entirely up to you. Players who never got to experience Xenoblade X should definitely give it a try, as it’s a beautiful, engaging, open-world adventure with hundreds of hours of gameplay. 

Just keep in mind that the story won’t be anything to write home about, and it’s all about the vibes as you explore its alien worlds and MMO-like open-world zones. That alone will be enough to convince many to pick up Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition on the Switch 2.

Big thanks to CD Media for the review copy!