Xenoblade X Next Week

With Xenoblade Chronicles X:DE releasing next Thursday — yes! — I thought it’d be a good time to talk about why the game is special to me. It goes beyond the fact that it’s a cool sci-fi RPG. I think it relates to my gaming experience as a kid. Let me explain.

First, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a top-tier sci-fi RPG set in an epic open-world. How could it not be awesome? Sci-fi JRPGs are my favorite genre and type of game, like Final Fantasy VII. So XCX easily fits into Mind-Blowing-Game territory for me. 

On top of that, when I first played XCX in 2018, it was the only RPG I had for the Wii U, my only console at the time. And I had very few other Wii U games of any kind to distract me. This let me fully focus on and embrace XCX. I was able to take my time with it, study the game’s mechanics, freely explore the open-world of Mira, and discover the game-play loop. It was challenging yet all the more rewarding.

That mech!

Having a single game to play is a blessed limitation. It’s like when I was a kid. When I owned a NES and then a SNES, I didn’t have my own money. I would get one or two games each year for my birthday or Christmas. Otherwise, my parents rented games for a weekend at a time (we had video stores like Blockbuster, kids; look it up).

With one game to play, I’d play it for all it was worth. I could spend many hours re-trying levels. I would read my Nintendo Powers and other gaming mags to help solve tricky spots. I had time to play and focus on the game at hand. This is also how I was able to get into XCX on Wii U as an adult. Without other RPGs — few games at all — this Xenoblade title grew on me.

That said, I didn’t get far into the game, only about 40 hours. In fact, I was about one task away from earning my Skell license. I was searching for an item somewhere in the desert biome and didn’t find it. Yeah, I never did obtain a Skell. That’s the giant mech-robot on the gamecase that first caught my eyes. So with the game now getting a definitive re-release on Switch — improved graphics, added story, refined/fixed UI — of course I’m super eager to restart and get a Skell!

Lord willing, I plan to fire up a new save slot and build a new character next week, restarting the epic journey once more. And this time, I hope to play it like before, like when I was a kid with “the one game.” I want to focus and immerse and play it for all its worth. Savor it, don’t rush it. Other entertainment can wait. And I can’t wait to get a Skell.