Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition

Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition is a reworked version of the sprawling JRPG that originally released on Wii and was long hard to find in the West. It takes place in a world formed from the bodies of two petrified titans, Bionis and Mechonis, upon which people and machines quite literally walk as if they were continents. The hero Shulk obtains the sword Monado, which shows him glimpses of the future, and sets out on a journey of revenge that gradually turns into something far broader and more philosophical. The narrative works with major twists and ranks among the most ambitious the genre offered at the time.

Combat runs in real time: the character auto-attacks with basic strikes while the player decides on positioning and triggers arts with their own cooldowns. Central to it is working with visions of the future, which let you see an incoming lethal attack and give you a few seconds to avert it—warning an ally, interrupting an enemy, or drawing attention to yourself. This is paired with an extensive system of relationships between characters, socketing crystals into equipment, and hundreds of side quests. The world is vast and open, with a day-night cycle, weather, and powerful monsters that will crush you instantly at low levels.

Definitive Edition brought completely redone character models, a clearer interface, noticeably improved environments, and a re-recorded soundtrack that ranks among the best Japanese RPGs offered that decade. It also includes a standalone epilogue, Future Connected, which fills in the fates of several characters after the main story's conclusion. Reception was very good, and the game finally found a wide audience on Switch that had eluded it on Wii. Handheld-mode resolution is lower and some textures betray the title's origins, but the atmosphere of a vast, breathing world still works today. For players who enjoy long, narratively bold RPGs, it's one of the best choices on the console. Its spring 2020 release also helped the game find players who spent dozens of hours with it regardless of the fact that the title was originally a full decade older.