Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition releases today! Ft. my thoughts and feelings

Today is May 29th, 2020. To me, as well as many others, this marks the release of a remake of a very special video game. The name of this game is Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. Developed by Monolith Soft and originally released on April 6th, 2012 for the Nintendo Wii, the original game, titled simply Xenoblade Chronicles, had been met with much praise for its well-written story, characters, soundtrack, and more!
 
The game’s story takes place in a world on top of two massive beings called “Titans”, named the Bionis and the Mechonis. These two titans were in a never-ending battle with each other which ultimately led to them both being killed. Thousands of years later, the lifeforms that were born unto these two huge titans, the “Mechon” and the “Homs”,  were at war with each other. The beginning of the story shows a massive battle between the two. This one in particular was thought to have marked the end of the Mechon attacks. The fight was led by Dunban, a war hero who wielded the mythical sword, the Monado. This sword has special abilities and is the only way to cut through Mechon armor effectively. Due to this advantage, Dunban single-handedly ended the war. However, this was at the cost of Dunban no longer being able to use the Monado anymore as it’s great power injured him incredibly. 
One year later, we are introduced to our protagonist Shulk, who is a weapons scientist studying the Monado. He lives in a small town called Colony 9 with his friends Reyn, Fiora, and Fiora’s brother Dunban. Although they thought the attacks had stopped for good, the mechon pulled a surprise assault on the Colony. Shulk had decided to take up the Monado since Dunban cannot. He was seen to have had great abilities when using it with those including being able to even see the future. Sadly even with such power, he was unable to save one of his friends from a Mechon. Now Shulk and his buddy Reyn set out to find this Mechon that killed their dear friend, and take revenge.
This is only the beginning of the game’s story. You will encounter many twists throughout the game that will constantly surprise you.
The game’s English dubbing features a full British cast which is held in very high regard by fans. Some notable voice actors include Adam Howden, Rufus Jones, Carina Reeves, and Jenna Coleman, who you may know as Clara from Doctor Who. The voice acting, in my opinion, is some of the best I’ve ever heard in a video game. You can really feel the emotion in every one of the actor’s spoken lines, especially for Shulk’s voice actor Adam Howden who is absolutely phenomenal. 
 The game’s areas are absolutely breathtaking to look at, despite the Wii’s hardware limitations. Some of my favorites being Eryth Sea, Satorl Marsh, and Valak Mountain. The areas are all very unique. For example, Valak Mountain is a snow area that has giant crystals sticking up out of the ground. These crystals light up when it turns night time which makes it absolutely beautiful to look at. Another example is Satorl Marsh. In the day time, it is a dreary looking swamp. However, when it turns to night time, all of the trees and plants light up a gorgeous light blue. Satorl Marsh is usually regarded by the community as the most beautiful area in the game. For me, this game has some of the best areas in gaming I’ve ever seen. Each one is different from the last, and it really takes your breath away at times.
Satorl Marsh at night time.
Eryth Sea at night time.
The game’s soundtrack is also incredible. Each one is used extremely well with whatever is going on in the cutscenes. The area themes are also extremely atmospheric which helps immerse you into the world. My personal favorite is a song called “Unfinished Battle”. This song is used only once in the entire game which I think makes it all the more memorable. With Definitive Edition, it has been confirmed that the entire soundtrack is being remastered. So I’m absolutely stoked to hear all of the songs remade, ESPECIALLY Unfinished Battle!
The gameplay is similar to an MMO where you have attacks called “arts” with cooldowns. You can use these arts on different sides of the enemy to deal more damage (such as backslash dealing more damage behind the enemy). Being able to see the future is also part of the gameplay, as you will encounter an enemy with an unmissable attack. Here, you have a few seconds to react and use a certain “Monado Art” that can help you in that situation. You can also do something called a chain attack, which is when you use arts one after another in a certain order to multiply damage for a devastating result!
However, that being said, the game isn’t perfect. Side quests in the original was a chore to do. Not having quest markers made it unbelievably frustrating to complete and could make one lose motivation in doing them. Fortunately, Definitive Edition fixes this issue by adding quest markers to help the player. Despite the areas looking beautiful. the game did not look good otherwise on the Wii. Textures were messy and the characters looked like literal blob fishes. Thankfully, since this is a remake/remaster with updated models, the game and its characters look absolutely amazing now!

This game has been my favorite game of all time since when I first got it in 2013. Since then, the fanbase has grown massively and had spawned 2 sequels, Shulk being made a playable character in Super Smash Brothers, and this game, in particular, had been released on the New 3ds, and Wii U as well. I can’t WAIT to play this game again and experience all of the feelings I felt all those years ago.
WELP, THAT’S ALL FOLKS! I hope some of you check this game out and play it!! And if you do have it, I hope you enjoy it 🙂  Have a GREAT day everyone! 
-CR