Xenoblade Chronicles 2

Though roaming the game's beautiful open worlds is bound to amuse more or less anyone for a few hours, the Xenoblade games will mostly appeal to the kind of JRPG player who enjoys the genre for its challenge and complexity rather than stories. In this light Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is somewhat surpassed by its more ambitious and polished Wii U predecessor.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a good, but not great. The combat is fun, the music is phenomenal and the huge and lush world of Alrest is a joy to venture through. But with all that said, the game is plagued by a messy UI system, almost nonexistent map, weird blade acquiring system, terrible and sometimes mediocre plot. It really looks like the game tried its best not be Xenoblade Chronicles X, and was less concerned with building on it’s predecessor.

Even with a phenomenal world, though, the story feels boilerplate and can be downright frustrating at times, having nonsensical, poorly-established events. The combat can also be aggravating as the AI has a hard time properly comprehending their surroundings and failing to stick to a given role. It doesn’t help there’s a strong RNG element to obtaining Blades, meaning you could be stuck with a bad hand for quite some time. Still, with all of these complaints, it’s hard to put it down. With an absurd amount of content, there’s no denying there’s an addicting and alluring quality to Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which makes it all the more disappointing it turned out the way it did. It had the potential to be one of the best RPGs of the year, but instead it ends up being just above average.

It doesn't quite match the out-of-nowhere brilliance of the first game, not is it as bold as the daring, but flawed, follow-up. Still, those seeking a game large and enveloping enough to carry them through the holiday season and beyond will find that particular box well and truly ticked. [Issue#314, p.108]

A wondrous game lies in there somewhere. But like those viscous cloud seas in Alrest, it’s too often too difficult to swim through.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 tries its hardest to match the grandest of grand RPGs out there on the market, attempting to become Nintendo's own Final Fantasy. In doing so, though, whilst still wonderfully vast in its scale, and gripping in how things play out for the most part, it has lost its way slightly, becoming bogged down by an overly complex pre-battle system, marred by fights that mostly feel too hands-off/automated, and some terrible character visuals and voice work. There is indeed a lot to love about this, yet so much that makes you yearn for something more.

In some ways a backwards step from its immediate predecessor, but this is still a fascinatingly complex Japanese role-player with the best open world since Breath Of The Wild.

Despite its many issues, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 stands out with a deep combat system, compelling storyline, and an endearing cast of characters. Just try not to get overwhelmed and give up in those first hours.

A wide-sweeping game with an ambitious story, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 offers up an intriguing world to explore. Unfortunately, confusing map markers and a padded-out combat system make actually exploring more of a chore than is necessary.

It's equal parts pleasing and frustrating, but the struggle to keep up with everything thrown your way is more of a hurdle than a roadblock. It will be a tough pill to swallow for people who aren't accustomed to the typical cliches found in many Japanese RPGs, and its often clumsy nature keeps it from being the next groundbreaking Switch game. But Xenoblade 2 is worth pursuing if you've got enough patience to let it blossom.

As a long-time fan of the Xeno series, I found Xenoblade Chronicles 2 to be a disappointment. A little balance testing, some reduced system bloat, and a little more effort in presentation could have made it an RPG to remember. If you played Xenoblade Chronicles 2 with a cheat device or walkthrough it would probably improve the experience, because you could bypass all the boring grinding and rough difficulty spikes. As it is now, the game is kind of a mess. An addicting mess, yes, but still a mess.