Nature is lush and all-encompassing, laying a prehistoric claim over the land. The flora, fauna, and weather resemble our own, but with their own fantastical flair.
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Areas are diverse set pieces full of life. Bionis is made up of naturalistic landscapes. Both are vastly different worlds with their own distinct aesthetic, geographical, and design priorities. Life in Xenoblade Chronicles grew from the corpses of two mythical titans, the Bionis and the Mechonis. The game’s frankly inspired setting does a great job at immersing you in what feels like a living, breathing world. Each third of the gameplay loop ends up with enough depth to carry a full playthrough.Įxploration is handled brilliantly. You never need to grind between mandatory story battles and quest fights.
If you don’t really care about fighting but do enjoy a well-crafted world, you can earn more than enough experience by completing side quests and simply exploring. If you just care about combat, you can indulge in a multitude of customization options to augment gameplay. If you don’t care for how text-heavy or involved side quests are, you can prioritize traditional exploration and combat. Gameplay is catered to suit all kinds of players. Xenoblade’s diversity of gameplay also means just about anyone can find something compelling about the experience, even if they bounce off certain aspects. There’s no wrong way to play through Xenoblade Chronicles. And since each style of gameplay awards experience, you seldom need to worry about being under-leveled. All three naturally overlap as part of a standard playthrough, but you get to engage with as much of the game as you want and in what capacity. Xenoblade affords this by splitting its gameplay loop down into three key cores: exploration, combat, and side-questing. You always visit regions one at a time, but the game rarely forces you to get from Point A to Point B in a specific way.
Linearity keeps the story and overall adventure-focused. Part of this stems from Xenoblade Chronicles’ freedom in spite of presenting itself as a linear RPG. That childlike wonder can not only be felt through every facet of Xenoblade Chronicles’ design, it’s realized with a level of depth only the best games pull off. Above all else, you want to do what you want when you want. You never want the journey to end, hungry for limitless content in what is very much a limited world. You want to uncover every nook and cranny in the hopes you’ll be rewarded with secrets. If you see something in the distance, your instinct is to go there whether the game wants you to or not. Video games feel endless when you’re a kid. There’s real truth to what Hiramatsu had said.