Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition – Destructoid

As much as I’ve loved every new entry in the mainline Xenoblade Chronicles series, there’s something special about Xenoblade Chronicles X. While it’s technically not a spin-off, it’s certainly its own thing, favoring a more futuristic sci-fi world and story compared to the fantasy setting of the main series.

Nearly a decade after originally releasing on the Wii U console near the end of its lifecycle, Monolith Soft and Nintendo have released Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, a remastered version of the original game modernized to run and look good on the Nintendo Switch, with some new content to boot.

Typically remasters go in one of three directions: a simple port of an old game to a more modern system, a port that also has some improved visuals, or a complete graphical upgrade that may also add more content to the original game. Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition falls in the latter category, adding a trove of new features and content while upgrading the graphics for the Switch.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Monolith Soft
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: March 20, 2025
MSRP: $59.99

Despite using the Xenoblade Chronicles name, the story of XCX is completely separate. Sometime in the future, humanity is forced to flee Earth after the planet is caught in the middle of an intergalactic war. As two alien species wage conflict in space above Earth, humanity launches a series of colony ships as a last-ditch attempt at survival. One of the ships, the White Whale, successfully evades the warring species’ but is tracked down by one of the species and shot down years later, causing it to crash land on the mysterious alien planet of Mira.

The world of Mira is where Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition takes place, and it is absolutely massive. For comparison, the total size of Mira is 154 square miles which is bigger than the world of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild at 140. You’ll traverse the entire gargantuan world throughout the many story missions that stretch over several narratives starting while figuring out how you crashlanded on Mira and surveying every nook and cranny of the planet.

Exploration of Mira is not only a core part of the narrative in XCX: Definitive Edition, but it’s further amplified by an in-game system called FrontierNav. As you explore Mira you can find spots to drop down various probes as part of the FrontierNav system, contributing towards the surveying of the planet but also allowing you to accrue various materials including money and Miranium which you’ll use to upgrade your gear.

While side quests are often side-dressing in most JRPG’s, in XCX: Definitive Edition they are arguably more important than the main quests. Of course, you don’t have to do side quests to progress the actual main storyline and get through the game, but the real meat of the storyline including details about the characters, the world of Mira, and what exactly is going on are mostly fleshed out through the side quests.

Even though XCX: Definitive Edition is vastly different from the other mainline entries in the series in terms of story, world, and setting, the one big area of similarity is the combat system. Both in story missions and when traversing the open world, you’ll encounter various enemies of different types that you will engage in real-time combat.

You influence the combat by utilizing an arsenal of skills while in combat, including both melee and ranged. The skills vary from dealing damage to applying negative status effects to your enemies or positive status effects to yourself and allies as well as healing. At a glance, the combat system may sound a bit simplistic, but it’s far from it. Most of the skills have various bonuses that are applied when you meet certain conditions such as attacking an enemy from behind, from the side, etc. This creates a very dynamic yet fluid combat system of maneuvering around the field to ensure you’re attacking your enemies in the most optimal way.

To make things even more interesting, the world of Mira is harsh and punishing. For example, one of the early zones has a massive Level 55 dinosaur trampling around next to various Level 3 and Level 4 creatures. It’s not just there for shock factor either; engaging in combat with the dinosaur early on when you first reach this zone would be an absolute death sentence. But it further adds to the vast amount of content in XCX: Definitive Edition. There’s something special about finding a higher-level enemy early on that you remember many hours later when you’re strong enough to come back and take it on.

Alongside leveling up, there are two other major points in Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition that are pretty big game changers in terms of both gameplay and exploration of Mira. After Chapter 6, you’ll gain access to a Skell, a weaponizable mech/exoskeleton that will surely give you Gundam vibes. You can traverse the world of Mira much quicker in a Skell than on foot, but you can also use them in battle, making quick work of smaller enemies and giving you the ability to take on more hulking enemies with ease. Then, after Chapter 9, you unlock the Flight Module for the Skell, allowing you to fly around for even faster travel and opening up previously inaccessible areas.

If what you’ve read so far in this review sounds great, I have good news: this is essentially Xenoblade Chronicles X before it got the Definitive Edition treatment. As a whole, the Definitive Edition mostly amplifies everything above in one way or another, but also adds more content.

First off, the graphical upgrades are solid across the board in XCX: Definitive Edition. The shiny plastic-looking character faces from the original are long gone, replaced with sharper and more defined models. The creature textures and the world have also been updated, as well as the lighting. Obviously, you have to keep in mind that this is still the Switch we’re playing on, so don’t expect PS5 or Xbox X|S-quality graphics, but I’d argue that while the original Xenoblade Chronicles X essentially pushed the Wii U to its limits graphically, the Definitive Edition appears to be doing the same thing on the Switch. There are a few areas, mainly for the much-larger-than-normal creatures, where I’ve noticed a few spots of blurry textures that look like they either didn’t scale correctly or weren’t updated from the original, but this was only a few times and was really only noticeable when I got up close and personal.

Story-wise, the Definitive Edition is a meaningful addition that fleshes out various plot threads and character developments throughout the progression of the game. One of the few issues with the original Xenoblade Chronicles X is that it had somewhat of a cliffhanger ending that seemed to set things up for a sequel, but a sequel never happened. There’s some extra story in the Definitive Edition that builds on it but don’t expect that issue to be fully resolved. Hopefully this definitive edition leads to a proper sequel where we can see the cliffhanger find complete resolution.

In terms of content, Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has plenty to offer, as well as many quality-of-life options that only make the game even better. There are two new characters, Neilnail and Leisel, each of which also have their own new Skell as well. There’s also an entirely new zone, a floating continent that can only be accessed via flying. In fact, the zone is built specifically for traversal with the flying Skell, offering more verticality than the other zones. This new zone also has new creatures, story beats, and even FrontierNav points to explore and set up to create an even more efficient resource generation pipeline.

Quality of life has been vastly improved. Mission Item Markers have been added to the map, showing you where to go to take on missions and more importantly where to farm various items required for fetch quests, a major issue in the original game. BLADE Levels, a separate ranking system from your level that you had to grind out to access certain missions has been removed, allowing you to access missions simply based on Level and Main Story progression. You can also now swap party members quickly and easily at any time via the menu, rather than having to trek all the way back to the main city like in the original game.

Perhaps the most important new addition is an all-new cooldown system. Your skills — called Arts — have their own specific cooldowns after use. However, this new system allows you to build up a separate cooldown meter and then consume it to instantly bypass your Art cooldowns and use the Art anyway. This adds another element of gameplay where you can manage your new cooldown meter to pull off even more deadly attacks based on skirting past lengthy cooldowns, or executing a clutch heal in a pinch.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition is how I wish all companies handled remastering its games. Xenoblade Chronicles X was already insanely good, and I would have been perfectly fine with just a graphical update and a port to the Switch. Its massive and immersive world is like no other and shows what peak exploration in a game should look like, finding a way to stay fun, mysterious, and rewarding even after 100 hours.

But instead of going the easy route, Monolith Soft went the extra mile and added meaningful new content and quality-of-life features that actually improved on what was already a masterpiece experience. The Definitive Edition treatment makes Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition one of the best JRPGs on the Switch, and a must-play for fans of the genre.