Xenoblade Chronicles 2

 Switch
User Score
8.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 2500 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,077 out of 2500
  2. Mixed: 183 out of 2500
  3. Negative: 240 out of 2500
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  1. friendzone215
    Mar 2, 2018
    5
    Pros: Initially the game was really charming -- fun music, the story is entertaining and funny enough, the characters have colorful personalities and there are huge animated boobs bouncing around all over the place. So in short -- the setting is a pretty traditional JRPG

    Cons: Where do I begin... to start, the menus are redundant and extremely convoluted. Just getting to the world map    Pros: Initially the game was really charming -- fun music, the story is entertaining and funny enough, the characters have colorful personalities and there are huge animated boobs bouncing around all over the place. So in short -- the setting is a pretty traditional JRPG

    Cons: Where do I begin... to start, the menus are redundant and extremely convoluted. Just getting to the world map is tedious and the map itself does not serve you well. Combat is clunky and tries to be super complex -- so much so that 10 hours into the game you're still getting lots of tutorials. In the end, it doesn't really matter and all the upgrading and stat boosting feels super irrelevant. The battle controls are just over done and the movement feels like it's from older generation systems like the Gamecube -- glitchy and clunky. Sometimes it has very poor & simple "dungeon" & level design that looks like late ps2 era graphics and I KNOW the Switch is much more capable than this. It makes some levels very boring to explore.

    Not the best comparison, but After playing Zelda on the Switch it set a standard for beautiful smooth gameplay that showed us what the Switch can do. XC2 is a game that could be played on the Wii or possibly even the Gamecube -- all in all this game was a huge letdown for me because systems are too deep, redundant and convoluted.

    I really wanted to love this game and looked forward to it for months, I even pre-ordered it. At the end of the day - Monster Hunter World turned out being everything I wanted XC2 to be and I'm much happier with it.    … Expand
  2. AcerolaOrion
    Jun 10, 2022
    0
    Outrageously awful. I cant believe anyone thinks this is good.

    Possibly the worst writing ever put into a video game. Eeeeveeeryyyyone taaaaalks reeaaalllllyyyy ............. slooooooow ........... aaaaand with draaamaaatic ........... paaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuses. Half the characters (Including the main cast) have outrageously thick accents from various areas of britain. Its so bad    Outrageously awful. I cant believe anyone thinks this is good.

    Possibly the worst writing ever put into a video game.
    Eeeeveeeryyyyone taaaaalks reeaaalllllyyyy ............. slooooooow ........... aaaaand with draaamaaatic ........... paaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuses.
    Half the characters (Including the main cast) have outrageously thick accents from various areas of britain. Its so bad that its not longer good but bad again.
    There is sooooo much time wasted on cutscenes with no facial, awful switch graphics and super slow awful voices.

    Stay far far far away. Possibly one of the worst games ever made.    … Expand
  3. User4321
    Dec 17, 2017
    9
    This game is amazing.

    The story is brilliant, characters are fun and lovable and villains eventually become sympathetic. It knows the right balance between humor and drama, and paced really well. There was no moment when I felt bored, or lost. All questions are answered, all story lines are resolved, we get some neat additions to the lore of the whole series. Without getting into    This game is amazing.

    The story is brilliant, characters are fun and lovable and villains eventually become sympathetic. It knows the right balance between humor and drama, and paced really well. There was no moment when I felt bored, or lost. All questions are answered, all story lines are resolved, we get some neat additions to the lore of the whole series. Without getting into spoilers I'll just say this - the whole sequence after the final boss made me cry like a baby.

    The gameplay is magnificent. The battle system became easier, in comparison with the original, but in return it brought more variety to the fights by inclusion of combos and switchable blades. In addition to usual sidequests there blade quest, which are given to you either by your unique blades, or by unique blades in the world. Unlike the regular ones, these sidequests contain their own fully voiced cutscenes and subplots, which help to develop blades' characters. And I never had a need to grind. I was strong enough to overcome every challenge game threw at me by just playing at my own pace. It wasn't easy, but it also wasn't impossible and I never stopped just to grind couple levels, like in the end of the original XC.

    The world is gorgeous. It's not as original and fascinating as Bionis, but still manages to impress. And like in the original exploration is rewarded. Locations are still highly atmospheric, and while the game uses a lot of old enemies, it present lots of new ones, who are not inferior in design. Also, like in the original you will encounter mini-bosses much stronger than you. Yes, Territorial Rotbart is in the game.

    The music is awesome. I won't speak about it. Just go and listen. In my opinion soundtrack surpasses original game's.

    But there are some technical problems. One time the game didn't end the battle, when all the enemies were dead, and I had to reboot it. Also while playing in docked mode textures are loading slowly when you fast-travel from titan to titan, and for couple seconds you may stand in the center of non-existent world. These are minor details, which won't ruin the fun you'll have with the game, but still I have to mention them. Also, no new game+. I know, that it would have been hard to realize, considering the opening chapter and blade-system, but still I miss this option.

    So, this game is amazing. After the credits rolled I wanted to play it all again immediately, but sadly, there is no new game+, at least for the time being.    … Expand
  4. likevin96
    Apr 22, 2018
    8
    Completion: Finished game and a huge number of side quests after approximately 105 hours.

    Pros: - Undoubtedly unique . JRPGs, especially turn based ones, are typically thought of as a fairly stagnant genre, but Xenoblade turns the norm on its head through its extremely unique battle and progression systems. Although there are issues, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 deserves to be lauded due    Completion: Finished game and a huge number of side quests after approximately 105 hours.

    Pros:
    - Undoubtedly unique . JRPGs, especially turn based ones, are typically thought of as a fairly stagnant genre, but Xenoblade turns the norm on its head through its extremely unique battle and progression systems. Although there are issues, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 deserves to be lauded due to its willingness to push boundaries and try something new.
    - Soundtrack is catch and memorable. There are a number of tracks throughout the game that will undoubtedly stay with me. Some standouts include the Argentum and Mor Ardain themes.
    - Battle system is very different from anything else that is out there right now and requires positioning, strategy, tactics, and proper timing to utilize effectively. This is especially true during the earlier parts of the game where you're still getting used to all the different components of the initially overwhelming system. There are a lot of moving parts and mastering them is satisfying.
    - World is sprawling and fleshed out. Alrest feels like it could be a real place due to the plethora of lore and intrigue surrounding it. The large, sprawling areas also contribute to this through the sense of place that results from exploring and wandering around the myriad fantastical lands.
    - I overall enjoyed the story. The characters are one of the strongest points and Rex was much more likable that I had initially expected. This may be due to me playing with the Japanese voices and not having to deal with some of the strange accents the localization team had decided to implement. The pacing can be too slow at times and comedy is not used well (to put it lightly), but overall the drama of Xenoblade Chronicles 2 did in fact compel me to continue my journey.

    Cons:
    - So many aspects of the game waste an enormous amount of time. The Merc Missions were a great idea to better utilize your full roster. However, constantly going into the menu and having to scroll through pages of menus to get a proper team for these missions is annoying and can take you far out of the immersion of the rest of the world.

    Another example of this is in the Blades, which serve as a hybrid being weapons and party members in Xenoblade 2. Making these Blades stronger often requires you to do very specific tasks that make you go far out of your way to do boring tasks such as killing a random mob X times. Although there are ways to get around some of these requirements, they are definitely necessary for progression when it comes to certain Blades and in the earlier sections of the game where you don't have as many Blades to play around with. Furthermore, the drop rates for the Rare Blades are FAR TOO LOW. I understand how the Generic Blades play into the Merc Mission system, but that doesn't make it any more fun to (very slowly) activate dozens of virtually useless Blades.

    However, the most egregious example of this lies in the battles themselves. While strategic and fun, every single battle lasts far longer than they have any right to, especially if you aren't massively overleveled. Defeating an enemy 20 levels under you should happen in the blink of an eye, especially for a game like Xenoblade with no random encounters or any sort of discrete transition into battles, but this is definitely not the case here. It quickly became obvious to me that skipping every single mob I could was the only way to beat the game at any reasonable pace. The enemies have massively inflated health through the entire game and that is simply not fun to deal with in a game that is already so long.

    - You don't have to change your strategy much for fighting different enemies. Although there are elemental weaknesses and species-specific items/abilities, they are often too niche to really be effective and used in any sort of active way for 90% of your battles. Although their appearances and stats change, every single enemy in the game just felt too similar to one another in terms of what my approach should be.
    - Map system is awful and oftentimes the only way to progress is to walk through the area that your objective is in countless times before noticing a hidden pathway or area that will let you progress. The map has no detail in the Z-axis and the objective compass can be as deceiving as it is helpful.
    - Frequent FPS/resolution drops. This is egregiously poor in handheld mode.

    Final Word:
    Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is the definition of a flawed masterpiece. The developers reached for the sky and created something truly unique. From playing the game, I am certain that Xenoblade is a game with genuine heart and passion. However, this does not excuse the painfully plodding nature of nearly every aspect of the game, ranging from story to combat. I still enjoyed it - but will forever be disappointed at how incredible the game could've been with just a few more tweaks.

    True Score:
    8.1    … Expand
  5. itonydelatorre
    Jan 22, 2018
    10
    I'm giving this a 10, because to me, it is exactly what I look for in a game.

    So you can compare tastes, some of my favorite games/series are: Fire Emblem Persona Borderlands Elder Scrolls Additionally, this is my first Xenoblade game, so take that into consideration. Story: The story was phenomenal. An exceptional story. Rather than sit and explain the way the world works,    I'm giving this a 10, because to me, it is exactly what I look for in a game.

    So you can compare tastes, some of my favorite games/series are:
    Fire Emblem
    Persona
    Borderlands
    Elder Scrolls

    Additionally, this is my first Xenoblade game, so take that into consideration.

    Story:

    The story was phenomenal. An exceptional story. Rather than sit and explain the way the world works, the game drops you in as a Salvager named Rex, and tells you that, in this world, people live on the backs of giant creatures called titans, but the titans are starting to die out. That is about it. Over the next 100 or so hours, the way the world works is revealed. And even the smallest questions get answered. Almost nothing is without an explanation, but nothing that isn't too important to a character gets over explained.
    I really don't want to say anything about the story. It's great and is filled with plenty of twists, turns and fantastic characters. I'm very thankful I was able to play it blind and without spoilers, and I hope you get to as well. Just know that if you have questions about the way the world works, an answer is coming.

    Characters:

    Again, fantastic. From the main cast to the villains, everyone is interesting, funny and they all have good backstories. You'll grow to like everyone in the game, or at least, have sympathy towards, even the most diabolical of the villains.

    Gameplay:

    Alright, something I can dive into without spoiling anything. I really really came to love the gameplay. It does start out slow. However, slowly over time it gets more complex, and once you have all the tools at your disposal, it gets fun.

    So you have skills, called arts. Like most mmos, your character will do their basic attack chain automatically, and you decide when to use the skills. You also have a special meter, and using skills will charge the special meter. Positioning and timing are important. For positioning, skills like the main character, Rex's "double spinning edge" will do extra damage from the side. Some of the tanks do extra damage from the front, etc. For timing, using a skill right after you finish an auto attack gives a boost to your special meter.

    On top of that, you can chain specials to deal massive damage. All specials are ranked. So you fill up the special bar once, you can do a rank 1 special, fill it up twice for 2, etc. If you use a special, a tree appears, and you follow the tree, while using ascending specials. For example, you start with Rex's fire special, then you can follow up with a level 2 fire or water special, then you follow up with the appropriate level 3 special. Finish off the chain and you get an elemental orb.

    The elemental orbs you get from finishing the special trees can be used to deal even more massive damage in a chain attack. In a chain attack, your party take turns using their specials. As they go along, you deal damage to the elemental orbs. Shatter one, and you get another round of higher level specials. Pull it off well, and you can deal millions of damage, pretty much ending boss fights, but it is easier said than done.

    Outside of this, you can break, topple and launch enemies to extend your special duration adn do extra damage while leaving them defenseless.

    There's a lot more to it, but it is a lot of fun.

    In the end, I know a game was something special when I'm left feeling lost after finishing it. It's the same way I felt after persona 5. This game had consumed me. It's a brilliant time, and the only major complaint I have with it is that I'll never be able to experience it for the first time again.

    Okay, really though there are a few complaints:

    1. The gatcha system for getting blades is not for everyone. I didn't mind it, and I got lucky, but I've heard horror stories of people desperately trying to get the rarest one, and really struggling. By no means will you need them all, but for completionists, it'll be a grind, and one you have no control over.

    2. You have to play a retro game to upgrade on of the characters. I like this game, and am good at it. Many will not. There should have been another method of upgrading. This character is a tank, and they do give you another one, but still.

    3. Side quests are just alright. Some are interesting, more are just okay. Side quests are entirely optional though, you don't need to grind them out to be able to finish the story. In fact, they actually take all the exp from these, and save them as bonus exp, in case you don't want to get over leveled.

    Other than that, a masterpiece. Easily a 10/10 for me.    … Expand
  6. gilbertofp16
    Dec 27, 2017
    10
    The game has a story, excellent art and direction. It is not plain and just killing monster around, also requires patience sometimes, because some monster are too strong and you have to avoid them or change your setup to win. I gave 10 points, because is addictive and fun game to play. But I believe nintendo switch has more capability than the graphics they gave to this game, Mario andThe game has a story, excellent art and direction. It is not plain and just killing monster around, also requires patience sometimes, because some monster are too strong and you have to avoid them or change your setup to win. I gave 10 points, because is addictive and fun game to play. But I believe nintendo switch has more capability than the graphics they gave to this game, Mario and Zelda got not the best graphics but they are fine, in Xenoblade sometimes the art of the game has to save the bad resolution of the graphics.… Expand
  7. HonokaKousaka
    Dec 22, 2017
    10
    This is literally one of the best switch games! Almost as good as the first! The only problem was the lip syncing and some of the voice acting. But the story and combat were outstanding!

    Would definitely recommend this to anyone who loves Nintendo or JRPGs.
  8. Wanglehoof17
    Dec 31, 2017
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Let me start by saying this review will have spoilers. I feel like I must provide parts of the story in this to express my feelings for this game.

    I have never written a review for a game before. I never really had a connection to a game where I felt I would want to express my feeling of it to other people. This game has really changed this for me. I'll start by going into smaller details like graphics, gameplay, etc.

    Pros:

    Graphics- This game's graphics are beautiful. For a huge game like this on a small console the game looks stunning. The vast amounts of terrain that you traverse gorgeous. Places like the Leftherian Archipelago look beautiful to stand upon and look down at the cloud sea, then travelling the Land of Morytha which is a polar opposite still is amazing. 10/10

    Gameplay- The gameplay is very good. There is still a little to be desired in the early stages, having to rely on auto-attacks to charge up your arts can leave you a little bored, but when you progress, you will always be doing something in battle, instead of watching a battle take place. The specials are satisfying to pull off and the synergy with the elements and your party is fantastic to watch. 9/10

    Blades: The vast amount of different combat styles that you unlock with your blades is incredible. Switching in battle from a sword to a polearm and even to dual wield scythes is really cool to expeience. Some weapons can be a bit boring to use, for instance hammers which have an incredibly low attack speed but hit very hard can really bore you, especially in a game where auto-attacks are necessary if you're not using Mythra. 9/10

    Story: The story for me is the greatest story in any video game. Watching Rex evolve from a salvager that seemingly became the driver of the Aegis only by luck to the true Driver of the Aegis is very emotional. The game ends the first chapter on a high note and ends the final chapter on a sad note that really had me on the verge of tears. Knowing that Blades lose their memories when returning to their cores, watching Pyra and Mythra return to the core and being reawakened, not knowing anything about their past with Addam, Rex and the group is really, really heartbreaking. Her speech at the end is incredible, and knowing how much Rex really loved her and how she'll never really understand the true length of their adventure that got him to that point was really sad for me. 11/10

    Soundtrack: The soundtrack for this game is as beautiful as the story. The ending soundtrack really did it for me, One Last You. Such a beautiful piece to end a story. This isn't the only forgettable song, but the one that really impacted me the most. 10/10

    Cons:

    Cliches: As you can expect, this is a JRPG, so you're going to expect a lot of cliches. This game is full of them. There are many points in the game where you feel someone should die but you'll unlock a new form or do something that is supposed to be completely surprising but instead you knew that you would be saved. There are a few contrasts to this, when Pyra gives herself to the enemy and when the third sword disappears into thin air just to name a few. The cliiches aren't bad and do help the story, but if you don't like cliches then you won't become drawn into this game as much. 6/10

    Voice Acting- I feel as if there was a huge disappointment with the voice acting. A lot of emotional moments were made to feel a little comical with the voice acting. However, Catrin-Mai Huw, the voice of Nia, really needs to be given props. Her voice acting was incredible and her you could really feel she was giving it her all in her lines. Rex's voice actor on the other hands isn't so good. It felt as if the same line was being repeated over and over again each time he needed to shout her name. Also, Arina Ii, the voice of Poppi, did an unbelievable job and by far the best voice actor in this game. Apart from those two exceptions, the voice acting wasn't very impressive, but if you're willing to put it aside for the incredible story, then you're sure to be rewarded. 4/10

    Progression - Late game progression requires you to increase the field mastery of your blades. This can be especially frustrating as you may need to grind out at the end just to complete the story, kind of ruining the flow of the storyline. Although it is a nice idea, it can be frustrating if you just want to continue the story. 4/10

    Coming from someone who's completed Zelda and played partially through Mario, I can say Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is by far the Game of The Year for me. The story, graphics and cast of characters is something I have never seen another game perfectly achieve, unlike this one. I love this game, and I strongly urge you give this game a chance, even if you're not a fan of JRPGs. This game is GOTY material, and I hope Monolith continue the story in either DLC or a sequel, because this game deserves it.

    Final Verdict - A cliche 11/10    … Expand
  9. rm-sdp
    Jul 31, 2018
    10
    tl;dr: go buy it now!
    long version:
    This has got to be one of the most satisfying games i've played in years. The story: Really good, reminiscent of a lot of manga/anime. Characters: NPC's seem like the same model but with a small facelift to make them look different, enemies are kind of varied, and you get a mix of level 10's and level 72's on the same area so it makes it a challenge    tl;dr: go buy it now!
    long version:
    This has got to be one of the most satisfying games i've played in years.
    The story: Really good, reminiscent of a lot of manga/anime.
    Characters: NPC's seem like the same model but with a small facelift to make them look different, enemies are kind of varied, and you get a mix of level 10's and level 72's on the same area so it makes it a challenge to clear some places.
    Music: It's good but after 100hrs it feels repetitive somehow...
    UI: Very very simple, but streamlined, you have a million of options and it's easy to navigate between them.
    Side Quests: they're well designed, even the typical RPG quest of "go pickup 100 apples" have some backstory to make it more interesting, or they add the salvage mechanic to add some randomness to it.
    Combat: even if the game failed on all other aspects, this one would carry it to a 10/10. You manage a party of 3, whose roles (Tank/Healer/DPS) are very notorious, the equipment, skills, etc. all revolves around those roles, compared to other semi-rpg's this is a great win. There is a combo/chain mechanic that makes it not just be a button mashing game or just a DPS+heal rinse&repeat, it also requires hitting a timed button to trigger better attacks, enemies have a "weakness" to which you can sort your blades to be more effective.
    AI: The tank AI is OK, i can rely on it to keep the aggro, the problem lies with the Healing AI, i've fallen a lot of times and noticed that the healer is DPS'ing instead of healing the party, on some bosses i've had to switch to healing the party as the AI doesn't do an optimal job there and the DPS is meh, doesn't always does combos :(
    Bottom line: great great game, i'd give it a 11/10 but take a -1 for the exaggerated female characters that get a close up only when my wife is passing by the tv and she then disapprovingly looks at me.
    Stop looking for reviews, go buy it, now now now!    … Expand
  10. Anti_badgame0
    Feb 18, 2019
    8
    Now i want to get this out of the way. Xenoblade 2 is my first Xeno series game, ever but i have seen Xenoblade 1 for comparison. Even if i may be a bit blinded by love for this game (especially Pyra, who's character design i love, but i'll get to that later) it has its upsides and downsides. I'll start with those downsides.

    Cons: The gameplay! Oh goodness the gameplay, the compass    Now i want to get this out of the way. Xenoblade 2 is my first Xeno series game, ever but i have seen Xenoblade 1 for comparison. Even if i may be a bit blinded by love for this game (especially Pyra, who's character design i love, but i'll get to that later) it has its upsides and downsides. I'll start with those downsides.

    Cons:

    The gameplay! Oh goodness the gameplay, the compass system is atrocious! I spent literally 8 hours finishing 4 early side quests because i had no clue where to go. The aggro system when alone is inconsistent at best and lack of explanation for the more sophisticated areas of the game makes it not very beginner friendly until about 15 hours in. Now the gameplay isn't bad at all, but it could be better with some quality of life improvement. I understand Xenoblade 1 wasn't very good at this either.

    What the actual hell is the voice acting? I have cringed many, many times from how abysmal/inconsistent the voice acting is in this game. A lot of times the voice actors seem to forget what emotions are and other times certain lines are delivered like they are from a Triple A actor! What the hell? It detracts from the emotion of those moments, but when the voice acting is good, it's GOOD since the actual actors themselves are good.

    Animations/facial expressions. Look i get the anime art style is not designed with this in mind, but at least show SOME expression. I swear one of the bosses has the same dumbass grin the entire time, even after you beat him. That's another thing. Why can the heroes never canonically succeed? Even after thrashing a boss? It's fun to see your hero overcome a challenge sometimes!

    The Blade system is fun on paper, but in practice. Oof, getting a good Blade is so hard! Sure you can get 'legendary Blade's from common crystals, but it's very rare and, to me, the Blades were MASSIVE missed potential in the combat. It would've been nice to have them fight using a sub-weapon every now and then, without your commands, acting as actual support rather than a limiting anchor, and with combat as free-flowing as the type Xenoblade is known for, an anchor is the LAST thing you need. At least their special moves are nice

    Alright now that's about it for the notable bad sides of this game, let's start on the good!

    The storytelling in this game is amazing! With allusion to past events that isn't to vague or too descriptive, revelations on every corner and a story you advance at your own pace (i overlevel everything, lol) along with relatable villains you really feel for the story serves up one hell of a sometimes silly, sometimes serious dish of feels that's guaranteed to stay with you well past the ending. Good thing there's DLC and a prequel because if you love JRPG stories, you'll love this one!

    The character designs are amazing! Now this is a contentious point but i personally love the character designs, especially of the villains. Despite the cartoonish art style and lack of proper expression, the designs alone tell us a lot about who we're looking at and who they are, that is a sign you've made your character's appearance well. In terms of personality and actual characters. Mmm, not sure, that's a yes and no, some of them are rather boring.

    The open world and care taken into creating this environment where you can fight every enemy you come across (usually with disastrous results) is absolutely wonderful. I've played for hours upon hours just grinding in the open world, taking in its beauty. The artwork for this game is amazing!

    Now if you think Metal Gear Solid had good cutscenes, which it does, Xenoblade 2 has a treat for you. I don't normally enjoy lots of cutscenes, but given the occasionally adorable, sometimes silly, but funny characters, disregarding their occasional boredom, the cutscenes, which use the same art style as the rest of the game, are excellently crafted and executed PERFECTLY with these characters, in my opinion. It isn't enough to propel the game to 9/10 but just enough to save it from 7/10. Especially when said cutscene is a fight. Man those are good.

    The levelling system isn't a favourite of mine. A bit too complicated for your everyday RPG with this 'extra XP' stuff, but it's easy to master.

    Finally. Just listen to the SOUNDTRACK! Even if you don't like these kinds of games, but love a kickass soundtrack, Xenoblade has it for you, and when audio and cutscenes combine, well, cinematic magic happens since the composers did such excellent jobs capturing the feel of every moment in the game. Now i don't like some, like the replacement for 'You Will Know Our Names' from XB1 but it's still REALLY GOOD

    Final verdict. If you like JRPG's, don't mind a bit of bad voice acting and like a good story, you'll enjoy Xenoblade 2. It's a deceptively deep, fun and emotional game i'd recommend every Switch owner try for at least 4 hours    … Expand
  11. Brentinitis
    Jan 24, 2019
    7
    An overall pretty good but disappointing game. I've been playing these games all the way from Xenogears till now and this is definitely my least favorite of all the games in this franchise. I will say I did enjoy the Story despite a few criticisms I have for it and I like all the main characters... except Rex that is. Unfortunately this game suffers from a lot of really bad game design.An overall pretty good but disappointing game. I've been playing these games all the way from Xenogears till now and this is definitely my least favorite of all the games in this franchise. I will say I did enjoy the Story despite a few criticisms I have for it and I like all the main characters... except Rex that is. Unfortunately this game suffers from a lot of really bad game design. Convenient and streamlined features that were in previous games are just gone with no reason or explanation. For example the loot system was improved going from Xenoblade 1 to Xenoblade X, but in this game they took more than a few steps backward with that. When an enemy drops items and money they fly everywhere and more often than not land somewhere unreachable. This means you could end up spending a long time trying to get an enemy to drop a specific item only to have it fall off a cliff once it finally drops; this is incredibly frustrating and is a problem for the entire game. I could write a book on all the problems I have with this game but I'm deciding to look at the positives. The story is pretty good, I like the characters, I like the music, and the gameplay is fun sometimes. Overall 7/10, if you liked the first one give it a try.… Expand
  12. fromis
    Jul 26, 2019
    2
    Just finished this game on my Switch and I have to start off by saying I believe this game is not for everyone. Either you're gonna love it or hate it, there's no middle ground, unfortunately I'm in the latter category. Never played any Xenoblade titles before this one and I believe it will be my first and last.

    The story is interesting and it's what kept me playing, even though it    Just finished this game on my Switch and I have to start off by saying I believe this game is not for everyone. Either you're gonna love it or hate it, there's no middle ground, unfortunately I'm in the latter category. Never played any Xenoblade titles before this one and I believe it will be my first and last.

    The story is interesting and it's what kept me playing, even though it contains typical japanese weeabo/loli themes. The music is actually amazing, Mor Ardain night theme has to be my personal favorite.

    However, the combat is absolut garbage, hated every minute of it. If you've ever played an MMO like WoW, it can be compared to raiding, except solo and you use your blades (kinda like pokemons) to perform elemental combos. Only one problem, it's really bad compared to todays MMO combat standards.    … Expand
  13. Kingdomhear
    Apr 23, 2022
    0
    Un pastrugno come l uno...inizia che sembra una bella avventura ..divertente poi diventa tirato e noioso perché devono fare il gioco da 70 ore...sta fissa di fare giochi Infiniti allungati...campi da calcio vuoti da percorrere fino allo sfinimento..bah
  14. deepspace
    Feb 27, 2018
    10
    Not for a long time has a game called to me in this way. I used to love JRPGs as a kid. I remember playing many of them on the SNES and the mega drive. Then I fell out of love with them after I started to see the repetitiveness and cliches of the genre. This game has broken that spell. It’s wonderful. Ok, so the cut scenes are a bit long and the character development is a bitNot for a long time has a game called to me in this way. I used to love JRPGs as a kid. I remember playing many of them on the SNES and the mega drive. Then I fell out of love with them after I started to see the repetitiveness and cliches of the genre. This game has broken that spell. It’s wonderful. Ok, so the cut scenes are a bit long and the character development is a bit inconsistent. But the game is wonderful- huge, and exciting. I have felt like grinding this much since world of Warcraft in the early 2000’s. It’s an incredible game. If you’ve bought the switch and are looking for a BOTW-like experience, then get this game. But don’t expect it to be the same. You’ll need a touch more patience to stay with the narrative and combat. But if you do, you’ll enjoy a deep and lengthy adventure that is rare to experience in a world of shorter and brief games (no disrespect to the indies intended). Get this if you love adventure.… Expand
  15. MediaFreak
    Feb 1, 2018
    9
    Tried the first game on 3ds but gave up after 20 odd hours of running round lost. Gave X about 4 hours on wi u but couldn’t get into it at all. The story and the characters of this one however had me hooked long enough to learn all the mechanism I really enjoy the battle and upgrade systems.

    Took around 60 hours to finish and it’s the first JRPG that isn’t a pokemon game that I’ve    Tried the first game on 3ds but gave up after 20 odd hours of running round lost. Gave X about 4 hours on wi u but couldn’t get into it at all. The story and the characters of this one however had me hooked long enough to learn all the mechanism I really enjoy the battle and upgrade systems.

    Took around 60 hours to finish and it’s the first JRPG that isn’t a pokemon game that I’ve finished since FFVII.

    It’s not perfect, there’s a lot to learn, to the point where I didn’t get how affinity was even represented until,the last battle. The voice acting is mixed, mainly the main character who’s a bit annoying and Cheesey. The map and level design will frustrate you at time, the platforming mechanics are poor and unfortunately there are areas where you need to walk narrow paths or time jumps.

    But aside from all this, it’s an absolutely amazing game, one that after 20 hours in I couldn’t put down.    … Expand
  16. Crujones
    Apr 14, 2018
    10
    Now I have played Xenoblade Chronicles 1, X, and now 2 but I have never beat one until Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Absolutely ONE OF THE BEST JRPGs out there, it's beautiful, fun, and rewards you heavily for putting in time with your party. I am 120 hours in and have yet to wanna put it down with all of the post game stuff there is.

    Pros: Absolutely astounding and rewarding combat system    Now I have played Xenoblade Chronicles 1, X, and now 2 but I have never beat one until Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Absolutely ONE OF THE BEST JRPGs out there, it's beautiful, fun, and rewards you heavily for putting in time with your party. I am 120 hours in and have yet to wanna put it down with all of the post game stuff there is.

    Pros: Absolutely astounding and rewarding combat system that picks up quickly and requires coordination and planning
    Beautiful Art Style
    Characters are fun and interesting
    It's on the Switch so you can take it with you!

    Cons: In typical JRPG style, things don't pick up until about 8 hours in and you don't unlock all of the combat systems till about midway through. With this you will still be seeing tutorials well into the game
    The story is predictable
    It ends.    … Expand
  17. Yegwen
    Feb 9, 2018
    10
    The scope of this game! I gave it 9 at first, but having completed the playhrough I upped the score to 10. The game is gigantic and awesome. It falls short on how unnecessarily complicated some of the side quests are, but makes it all up with an excellent storyline.
  18. thisseatofmars
    Mar 28, 2018
    10
    I'm about 100 hours in and thoroughly enjoying the game. It's a classic JPRG with a solid story but a world-class treatment in terms of presentation. I especially like how they got actual Brits (from different regions, some are Welsh, not Brits) to do the English voice acting; that's an excellent touch. I hate it when "actors" try to emulate a British accent; that breaks immersionI'm about 100 hours in and thoroughly enjoying the game. It's a classic JPRG with a solid story but a world-class treatment in terms of presentation. I especially like how they got actual Brits (from different regions, some are Welsh, not Brits) to do the English voice acting; that's an excellent touch. I hate it when "actors" try to emulate a British accent; that breaks immersion especially badly. Anyway, I recommend this title! 10/10… Expand
  19. PageWizard
    Jan 7, 2018
    10
    Easily the best game I played in 2017, and still with tons to do for me in 2018. It took me around 60 hours to beat the main story, but up to close to 100 hours of playtime so far. This game is easily on par with the original Xenoblade Chronicles, and is an overall incredible experience. Most, if any, very minor complaints I had with the game have been already addressed with patchesEasily the best game I played in 2017, and still with tons to do for me in 2018. It took me around 60 hours to beat the main story, but up to close to 100 hours of playtime so far. This game is easily on par with the original Xenoblade Chronicles, and is an overall incredible experience. Most, if any, very minor complaints I had with the game have been already addressed with patches since release. The only thing I could say is at times the Blade Field Skills can get in the way at a couple spots in the main events, but honestly they were so easy to overcome that the tedious nature really was not much of an issue.

    Amazing music, best gameplay out of the Xenoblade games, incredible story (that ties up even some things from the first game, no spoilers beyond that point, it will give something to think about, especially if you played the first game), and does not even require even knowing what happens in the first game (though it makes the game even more impressive when you do) . If you're looking for an amazing 1 player story-driven game for the Switch, this is the game to get!    … Expand
  20. javiandre10
    May 11, 2018
    10
    Si eres amante de los J-RPG este es tu juego, historia, jugabilidad, personajes memorables, momentos épicos y una excelente banda sonora, Alrest te está esperando.
  21. JuanpSage
    Apr 21, 2018
    10
    One of the best J-RPG I have ever played!! It's Amazing in all of the angles!
    Just give it a try, and you will not regret it. That's for sure!
  22. Kirillito
    Feb 9, 2021
    3
    After playing previous two games, this one was an extreme disappointment.
    Pros:
    - Beautiful graphics and colorful visuals. - Amazing and inventive world/location design. - Deep and complex RPG system. For casual players it doesn't require any optimization, but if you're playing on harder difficulties, you might need to spend time tweaking all the buffs, and skill settings, and Blade    After playing previous two games, this one was an extreme disappointment.
    Pros:
    - Beautiful graphics and colorful visuals.
    - Amazing and inventive world/location design.
    - Deep and complex RPG system. For casual players it doesn't require any optimization, but if you're playing on harder difficulties, you might need to spend time tweaking all the buffs, and skill settings, and Blade affinities, etc. There are a lot of challenging enemies that can test your setup and skills.
    - Fun and diverse battle system.

    Cons:
    - Boring story. What's worse - it is a long and boring story. A very generic JRPG plot stretched out way too much. For the game that is so imaginative with it's design, the plot is so unoriginal, it's a crime against Xeno-series fans. At least it was cool to look for plot connections with XC1.
    - Questionable character design. I'm Ok with a step back towards more childish anime-style, but why did they make some female characters with such a huge breasts and exposing outfits? Those are distracting and break the immersion.
    - Field skills everywhere. Field skills were Ok in Xenoblade Chronicles X - the requirements to open containers and do some actions were not as often and added a bit more depths to exploration. In XC2 field skills checks are EVERYWHERE. Almost every side-quest, and some progression in main story quests are locked behind a multitude of field skill requirements that can be a pain in the ass to fulfill. But the worst thing, that probably is my main grudge against this game, is MICROMANAGEMENT. It is ridiculous, how much micromanagement with blade switching you have to do in this game just to match field skill requirements with the proper configuration of Blades. Some quests and locations require you to do the same thing several times in a row just because of several field skill checks one after another. Same mind-numbing steps: go to the menu, spend several minutes looking for a Blade with a proper field skill, assign it to the character, repeat with other field skills, go back from the menu, pass the check, then repeat the same steps for the next check. Seriously, out of more than 100 hours spent in this game, I probably spent 5-10 hours just on Blade micromanagement alone.

    Overall, this game was fun to play for a while just for its battle system and visuals. But boring story hours spent on mechanical Blade micromanagement made it unbearable after a while.    … Expand
  23. ThaaTyyN
    Sep 13, 2018
    10
    PUTO JUEGASO. es un juego fantastico una narrativa increible un sistema de combate complejo y siempre tienes cosas que aprender una banda sonora inpresionante nada que decir para mi el mejor juego de la nintendo switch
  24. Afenger
    Feb 13, 2018
    8
    Xeno 2 vem com uma proposta diferente do seu antecessor, aqui temos um enredo muito mais bem produzido. O foco na hhistória fica muito claro desde os primeiros minutos. A trilha sonora é perfeita digna da serie, o sistema de evolucao ficou simples e muito eficaz, as blades e a maneira de se conseguir pelo fato de sorte é frustrante mas é recompesado pelas que conseguimos atraves de quests.Xeno 2 vem com uma proposta diferente do seu antecessor, aqui temos um enredo muito mais bem produzido. O foco na hhistória fica muito claro desde os primeiros minutos. A trilha sonora é perfeita digna da serie, o sistema de evolucao ficou simples e muito eficaz, as blades e a maneira de se conseguir pelo fato de sorte é frustrante mas é recompesado pelas que conseguimos atraves de quests. Parte grafica se falando no switch é fraca, texturizando muita coisa na cara larga, modo portatil é ruim a resolução cai muito chega a atrapalhar. Mas num contexto é um jogo bom.… Expand
  25. hintonhintonhin
    Jan 29, 2018
    9
    This game is what I imagined in my head playing old school snes jrpgs... gigantic worlds, endearing characters and epic battles. I was like many who didn't know if I could get into this game, but investing in it is worth it all- when you figure out the mechanics (and they are much, much easier to understand after a little play) and seeing how nicely every little system within the game fitsThis game is what I imagined in my head playing old school snes jrpgs... gigantic worlds, endearing characters and epic battles. I was like many who didn't know if I could get into this game, but investing in it is worth it all- when you figure out the mechanics (and they are much, much easier to understand after a little play) and seeing how nicely every little system within the game fits together and feeds the experience - this game was a joy.

    The final 5 hours of the game consumed me in a way few other narratives have. There is a heartwarming philosophy at the core of this game, and though it treads in many familiar jrpg tropes it also stands firm on its own as a testament to the genre.

    Certainly, in my opinion, one of the greats.    … Expand
  26. josei1985
    Jan 12, 2018
    8
    Me ha llevado 120 horas pasarme la historia principal, entre combates donde moría una y otra vez y las secundarias, muy necesaria para subir nivel. En realidad todavía tengo contenido adicional por hacer.

    Soy poco experto en jrpg, apenas he jugado a un par: al tales of berseria y a éste. Francamente, me ha encantado. Desde el apartado artístico, su historia y en muchos momentos he    Me ha llevado 120 horas pasarme la historia principal, entre combates donde moría una y otra vez y las secundarias, muy necesaria para subir nivel. En realidad todavía tengo contenido adicional por hacer.

    Soy poco experto en jrpg, apenas he jugado a un par: al tales of berseria y a éste. Francamente, me ha encantado. Desde el apartado artístico, su historia y en muchos momentos he disfrutado muchísimo del sistema de combate, para nada tan complicado como decían, ya que cuentas con numerosos tutoriales a lo largo del juego. Y según vas avanzando y las posibilidades, combos y demás aumentan, se hace más divertido. Eso sí, te acostumbras a jugar con un blade que, llegado el caso, se te hace un mundo tener que usar otro. Aunque esa es la gracia también, la variedad de blades. Los hay que se dividen por elemento (tierra, rayo, agua,...), por tipo de arma; si son comunes o legendarios/raros, etc y según el arma y poderes que tengan, el combate que hagas será distinto. También puedes elegir el personaje que quieras utilizar sin que sea necesario controlar al protagonista. Los gráficos no es que sean precisamente punteros ni fotorealistas ni es el objetivo, pero el juego es realmente bello, especialmente en algunos "países/titanes" y cinemáticas. La historia al final es muy emotiva, si eres un poco sensible se te saltarán las lágrimas. Pero no yo, yo soy un machote... bueno, casi he llorado...

    Por otro lado, el apartado técnico es bastante mejorable: tirones, bajada de frames,.. y un modo portatil demencial aunque te acabas acostumbrando bastante pronto por el juegazo que tienes entre manos. Tal vez no es un juego al que echarle horas en ese modo, más allá del rendimiento, ya que no es del todo cómodo jugar con los joycon. Con el mando pro es una maravilla jugarlo.

    Otro punto demencial son las misiones secundarias. Dios de mi vida. Qué malas, realmente malas. Mensajero, recolector y similar. Y toooodo el santo mundo para que encuestres los objetos. La historia ya exige bastante tiempo como para alargar el juego artificialmente en este tipo de misiones que no aportan nada. Es el tema que peor llevo de los juegos de hoy día. Porque no son ni uno ni dos los juegos mal planteados en el contenido adicional. Más cantidad no es mejor. Luego están las misiones de mercenarios, que no llevas acabo tú pero asignas a blades para ello, ganando dinero y experiencia.

    En definitiva, para mi un videojuego brutal que todo usuario de Switch debería comprar y que justificaría la compra de la consola para todos aquellos amantes del jrpg que aún no la tengan.    … Expand
  27. GrilledBacon
    Jan 13, 2018
    10
    One of the best JRPG I played in my life, great and detailed world, awesome characters, great history and one of the best OST. Just play it!! :)
    --------------------------------------------------------
    Uno de los mejores JRPG que he jugado en mi vida. Un mundo gigantesco lleno de detalles, personajes geniales, una gran historia llena de lore y una de las mejores BSO. SImplemente juegalo :)
  28. jeru
    Jul 17, 2018
    10
    un juego increíble con una historia muy inmersiva que te pone en la misma piel de los protagonista y llega a tocarte la fibra,
  29. Natorules
    Feb 26, 2018
    9
    This was my first ever JRPG (other than Pokemon) and I absolutely loved it! As of finishing it yesterday I have to say that in my opinion that it was the best game released in 2017! As I got further and further into the game I found myself slowly but surely becoming entranced into the deep world of Xenoblade 2. The story despite having a somewhat slow and trope-heavy start really began toThis was my first ever JRPG (other than Pokemon) and I absolutely loved it! As of finishing it yesterday I have to say that in my opinion that it was the best game released in 2017! As I got further and further into the game I found myself slowly but surely becoming entranced into the deep world of Xenoblade 2. The story despite having a somewhat slow and trope-heavy start really began to pick up around Chapter 3 or so and I found myself becoming emotionally attached to the various characters within this story. All in all it took me roughly 85 hours to finish the main story alongside a significant amount of extra content (affinity charts, sidequests etc.) and almost every second of it was magical.

    However, despite my amazing experience there is a reason I said almost. This game has a few issues which slightly dragged down the experience for me. This included lip syncing, occasional bad voice acting from the English cast, blade summoning, collectathon sidequests, somewhat invasive tutorials and worst of all a combat system which was only a bit above mediocre. The combat system despite being generally engaging due to its simplistic complexity ended up becoming too repetitive to remain anywhere near as engaging as in the beginning. In my opinion the main issue with this battle system was how long it would sometimes take to kill even normal enemies. This issue could easily be fixed by buffing enemy damage whilst also buffing the damage and healing of your own party.

    This game however, isn't for everyone, if you're looking for a short game to play or can't stand minor yet also infuriating inconveniences you most likely won't find this game suffices your needs. I'd personally recommend this game for those who rather than focusing only on game play also enjoy the stories and lore within video game universes.

    Despite the negatives of the game I find that my own personal enjoyment of the game severely outweighed the negatives mentioned. Overall I'd give the game a solid 9.5/10 based purely on my own enjoyment of the game!    … Expand
  30. TopHatHapi
    Feb 25, 2018
    10
    Best JRPG of 2017 Hands down, This is the 1st Xenoblade game I've ever played out of the 3 in the franchise, and i have to admit I was intimidated to jump in at first, but man am I so glad I actually gave it a chance because this game is so good. The story is amazing, if you love anime, this is literally an anime in video game form, as for the combat, it starts out slow but trust me, beBest JRPG of 2017 Hands down, This is the 1st Xenoblade game I've ever played out of the 3 in the franchise, and i have to admit I was intimidated to jump in at first, but man am I so glad I actually gave it a chance because this game is so good. The story is amazing, if you love anime, this is literally an anime in video game form, as for the combat, it starts out slow but trust me, be patient and learn the mechanics because once you master it, you'll feel like a God in the game.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

25
#25 Best Switch Game of 2017
3
#3 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2017
3
#3 Most Shared Switch Game of 2017

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
83

Generally favorable reviews - based on 92 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 92
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 92
  3. Negative: 1 out of 92
  1. Game World Navigator Magazine
    Mar 2, 2018
    73
    A fight with an ordinary enemy whose level is slightly higher can drag on for minutes, especially if you’re fighting it alone. The combat itself is also rife with problems: sometimes main character even fails to draw his weapon, or locks onto a far-off enemy, while another already is eviscerating him in close combat. [Issue#226, p.64]
  2. Nintendo Force Magazine
    Feb 26, 2018
    80
    Despite some rough patches, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a worthy addition to any Switch owner's library, especially if you have a predilection for RPGs and enjoyed either of the previous entries in the series. [Issue #32 – March/April 2018, p. 75]
  3. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Feb 16, 2018
    80
    Extensive and massive JRPG. Although with a rather cliché story and characters, it comes with a beautiful world and a fighting system growing more and more complex with every hour played. [Issue#282]
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