Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna ~ The Golden Country

 Switch
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 446 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 376 out of 446
  2. Mixed: 34 out of 446
  3. Negative: 36 out of 446
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  1. smahlt
    Oct 8, 2018
    7
    Good:
    - Delves into more of the backstory and characters of XC2
    - Interesting to wander around Torna - Tweaked the battle system to feel fresh without reinventing the wheel Bad: - Forced sidequesting to advance the main story (the Community) - Pouch items and some non essential upgrades now locked behind a crafting system, which makes money worthless and requires you to go grind    Good:
    - Delves into more of the backstory and characters of XC2
    - Interesting to wander around Torna
    - Tweaked the battle system to feel fresh without reinventing the wheel

    Bad:
    - Forced sidequesting to advance the main story (the Community)
    - Pouch items and some non essential upgrades now locked behind a crafting system, which makes money worthless and requires you to go grind gathering spots
    - Only one new titan

    Worth playing if you liked XC2. If not, there's nothing here for you.    … Expand
  2. vahn
    Oct 17, 2018
    5
    Well I hate to say this, but this game is ACTUALLY a lot better than the main game Xenoblade 2: in fact if I had to review this expansion on its own I'd gladly say that this was a "fun" jrpgs with a fun combat, some good story bits, and overall a decent narrative, basically everything that the main game missed.

    I mean, this game LITERALLY fixes every issue I had in the main version:    Well I hate to say this, but this game is ACTUALLY a lot better than the main game Xenoblade 2: in fact if I had to review this expansion on its own I'd gladly say that this was a "fun" jrpgs with a fun combat, some good story bits, and overall a decent narrative, basically everything that the main game missed.

    I mean, this game LITERALLY fixes every issue I had in the main version: combat is actually faster, and fun, and exciting, and rewarding, gathering is not a chore anymore because with fewer blades (6, 2 for each character) it's much easier to gather stuff up and the game even tells you what the node gives you. Quests are MUCH more precise and tell you everything to do, including where and who to speak, and AUX CORES ARE ALREADY FILLED WHEN YOU GET THEM! Holy **** **** I can't believe they've fixed it in an expansion but not in the god-forsaken main game! Nobody knows how many empty cores I had because I couldn't be fussed to fill them up.

    Blades are less now, only 6 like I said, which means less convoluted gameplay and less RNG: combos are easier to do and doesn't require those long and unnecessary complex moves you need to do to put an orb: you just need to use an elemental skill. On the other hand, breaking SAID orbs is much harder...but I think it's a nice change.

    The Affinity chart still sucks as usual BUT this is the thing: in here it's better because you only have 6 blades and not only that some charts FINALLY TELL YOU where to go for killing enemies and tyrants! Again, where the **** was this in the main game?!

    And to top all of this, the story is actually good and more interesting...I mean not that it required a lot of work mind you but Addam is a FAR superior character than Rex, Lora is interesting and her relationship with Jin is also intriguing (especially if you played the main game), and the Niall-clone is...well okay, Aegeon has more personality here and Brighid is okay too. Mythra is as bad as always.

    In addition, you have fewer skills (one less even though you could only put 3) but instead, each blade and character have a passive - THAT'S RIGHT, someone actually got the brilliant idea to finally make each character unique with a passive (or talent). It was too common to see blades with basically the same exact skills with only a few of them being actually unique (I can only think of Perceval and Finch right now) but in here while they do have some similar traits, their unique passives does help differentiate them!
    Also you can ACTUALLY play as a blade during fights...I mean that's pretty obvious but not obvious enough to be in the main freaking game!

    This was how Xenoblade 2 should've been! Fun and fast combat, interesting characters, relaxing and rewarding quests (seriously the filled aux cores makes everything better) and rewarding characters to play with...so why I'm giving this game a 5? Because this is a goddamn expansion ONLY!

    When I saw all of these features I couldn't help but scream "WHY!" every second, because these changes could've made the main game a lot better but instead we had these changes in a 40 buck (or 30 if you got season pass) standalone expansion that barely lasts 10-20 hours.
    In addition, this was CLEARLY a playable flashback that was supposed to be played between chapter 5 and 6, it's so clearly obvious: in the main game that was a part of the game where essentially nothing of importance happened and I can bet anything that this was supposed to be a part playable in the main game but they had to scrap for time restraints.

    A truly big shame to see what Xenoblade 2 could've actually become, but instead, we have a mediocre semi-action jrpg that is so grindy and unfocused on every level on one hand (XB2), and a good and very well balanced and shaped actual combat jrpg on the other (Torna).

    So I'll give this a 5 only because not only it's short (but good), but because if you play this game you will NOT enjoy how backward and how underdeveloped the main game is...but you must play that as well if you want to continue the story and it's hard not to resist.

    5+5 is a 10 so in a way, this is a good thing, but it could've been much more than just this...    … Expand
  3. OwtDaft
    Mar 29, 2020
    5
    + The small changes to the combat do make it slightly more fun than the main game.
    + You level up more quickly, which makes grinding more fun.
    + You don't have to keep switching blades around like you did in the main game. - Like the main game, it's blurry. Xenoblade X on the older Wii U looks graphically better. - There isn't much new story here and the story is paced very slowly. -    + The small changes to the combat do make it slightly more fun than the main game.
    + You level up more quickly, which makes grinding more fun.
    + You don't have to keep switching blades around like you did in the main game.
    - Like the main game, it's blurry. Xenoblade X on the older Wii U looks graphically better.
    - There isn't much new story here and the story is paced very slowly.
    - The game isn't very big when you take into account the almost full price tag.
    - Most of this game is side quests.
    - It's a good thing that grinding is better in this because sadly it's almost all you do in this.    … Expand
  4. dr0nzer
    May 20, 2020
    7
    Came back to it after a year away, the combat is still pretty bad, the menu system is atrocious, the side quests are a pain to manage especially as you can only track one at a time, story is decent though.
  5. Sunshadow87
    Jan 21, 2023
    7
    6 años después de xenoblade 2, por fin jugué a esta precuela aclamada por muchos. Ha pasado mucho tiempo como para acordarme de detalles del juego original, pero si se produce una mejora aquí, la verdad es que no me parece relevante. El sistema de batalla es tan bueno como lo era el juego original. Ahora, si que hay problemas con desbloquear ciertas partes del árbol de algunas blades...6 años después de xenoblade 2, por fin jugué a esta precuela aclamada por muchos. Ha pasado mucho tiempo como para acordarme de detalles del juego original, pero si se produce una mejora aquí, la verdad es que no me parece relevante. El sistema de batalla es tan bueno como lo era el juego original. Ahora, si que hay problemas con desbloquear ciertas partes del árbol de algunas blades... antes de que el tutorial te haya salido y por tanto puedas hacerlo... lo cual no seria un problema excepto por el hecho de que todo se llama muy similar y es difícil saberlo (combo de blade, combo de piloto, como de ...)

    Dejando eso de lado, el mundo es tan basto como todos los que hace monolith, aunque aquí a una escala naturalmente mucho menor, pero la exploración sigue siendo el punto fuerte.

    Ahora, otra es la historia y la progresión del juego... acabas haciendo una enorme cantidad de quests (obligatorias) y, realmente no me acabo diciendo nada la historia... lo siento, pero el personaje de jin de xenoblade me pareció mucho mejor que esta versión de su pasado, y realmente... es que me dejo bastante indiferente.

    En última instancia, una buena expansión, pero que no te pierdes nada por no jugarla. Mucho más impresionante y trabajada es la expansión de futuros conectados del primer xenoblade.    … Expand
  6. alanwaketan
    Aug 27, 2021
    7
    该DLC总的来讲基本继承了原作的大部分机制并做了部分增减。其中最受我好评的无疑是终于可以用光跑图了！剧本上画风比较成人而不是热血少年漫。这点上就是见仁见智了。成人向发刀子的RPG基本上是业界主流，所以我玩原作时那心情就是沙漠里遇甘泉。这点上来看高桥当初没用这个剧本当原作是非常正确的，否则就是泯然众人了。当然本作结尾的高潮演出还是一如既往的高水准。最后说一点让我不满的，那就是脑瘫的人和之力系统。要想让玩家在不到二十个小时的时间内对这个虚拟世界产生感情，是一件很难的事情，但人和之力绝对是一种偷懒的行为。该DLC总的来讲基本继承了原作的大部分机制并做了部分增减。其中最受我好评的无疑是终于可以用光跑图了！剧本上画风比较成人而不是热血少年漫。这点上就是见仁见智了。成人向发刀子的RPG基本上是业界主流，所以我玩原作时那心情就是沙漠里遇甘泉。这点上来看高桥当初没用这个剧本当原作是非常正确的，否则就是泯然众人了。当然本作结尾的高潮演出还是一如既往的高水准。最后说一点让我不满的，那就是脑瘫的人和之力系统。要想让玩家在不到二十个小时的时间内对这个虚拟世界产生感情，是一件很难的事情，但人和之力绝对是一种偷懒的行为。
  7. Jrson
    May 12, 2020
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. There are a lot of improvements coming from Xenoblade 2. The battle system allowed you to actually control the blades which was a very appreciated addition. The new OST for this game is also just as good as in 2. My biggest problem with this game is the amount of time padding. To finish the game you have to complete most if not all of the side quests in the game. Because this a prequel to Xenoblade 2, the ending of this game was already determined, all they needed to do was to pull it off well, which I think they did.… Expand

Awards & Rankings

87
#87 Best Switch Game of 2018
19
#19 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2018
89
#89 Most Shared Switch Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 41
  3. Negative: 0 out of 41
  1. FNintendo
    Mar 13, 2019
    80
    Torna is a marvelous expansion of the no less amazing Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Adding to what the original game already does good, Torna manages to improve the combat system and acts as a very good buildup on the original game's plot. This is an especially recommended additional experience to those who enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles 2, as it is designed to be especially appealing to fans of the original game.
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  2. Vooks
    Feb 21, 2019
    60
    While Torna’s story unfortunately turned out to be a huge let down, the gameplay does more than enough to pick up the pieces. Ultimately, exploring the world of Alrest is still a delight, and any excuse to re-enter this gorgeous universe is one worth taking.
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  3. Cubed3
    Dec 27, 2018
    80
    With refined combat, a far tighter script, and an infinitely more likable cast, Torna - The Golden Country manages to address almost all of Xenoblade Chronicles 2's core problems without ever straying too far from its source.
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